Four Years Later
by diisha392
Summary: It has been nearly four years since London, and for the Rock girls friendships have shifted since those winning days. However, a phone call from Austin with the offer of a reunion trip to Disney will change things. The question though is will the change bring them back together or push them farther apart?
1. Prologue

She should never have answered the phone. She knew that. Really she knew that as soon as Austin's name had flashed across her screen. She had known that the smart move would be to walk away, let his call go to voicemail.

And yet…

It had been nearly two months since they had talked. Random text messages just weren't enough to really stay in touch with one of her closest friends. Sasha had been the genius behind the plan to turn her into the artistic gymnast that had won the gold medals in London, but Austin had been the encouraging spirit when she had felt unable to transform into a graceful swan. In a little bit of an ironic twist, Mr. Kobalt had been the one to keep Payson grounded in the months following the Olympics when sponsors swarmed the golden girl. She had always had a strong sense of who she was but at the same time she was still just a teenager and the fame and attention could be overwhelming at times. Austin had been there to intervene safely at the one—and only—sponsorship gala where Payson had finally let all the ego-inflating finally get to her. She had indulged herself in several drinks too many, but Austin had swept her into a LA taxi before she could do anything embarrassing or even career-damaging.

Of course a paparazzo had snapped a photo of her leaning completely into Austin, his arms snugly around her body. The next set of tabloids had blazed speculation of how many weeks to their engagement announcement. Payson had cringed, knowing that this was most likely not going to go over well with her former teammate; Kaylie and Austin had just recently gotten back to a good place. She had tried to plan out what to say, but the phone ringing had cut that idea short.

Her friend's laughter on the other end had been a complete surprise. "Payson, thank you! This is perfect!"

"Wait, what, aren't you mad? The tabloids-" Payson had sputtered.

"Are lying," Kaylie interrupted. "I trust both you and Austin. He already had filled me in last night anyway on how the gala went. I was planning on calling you to see how bad of a hangover you had, but now it's a huge thank you!"

"A thank you?" Payson was having trouble following the bubbly brunette.

"I love Austin, Payson, I do, but I'm not ready for all the pressure that goes with being Mrs. Kobalt. Being in the public eye for the Olympics took so much out of me, and after being sick, I know that I need time for me, time to be private. If the tabloids want to put the two of you together, I'm totally fine with that!"

It had turned out that Austin felt the same way, not caring what the tabloids thought, and with neither Payson nor himself issuing a statement on the status of their "relationship," it was five months before a photog got lucky and captured the true couple kissing.

Five months in which Payson had spent enough time with Kaylie and Austin that those friendships had become two of her strongest. Especially after Lauren-

Payson shook her head. She had just started a conversation with Austin. It was not time to think about old pain; it was time to focus on her current friends.

The current friend that had just said, "Payson, I need a favor. A huge one."


	2. A Week of Your Time

"What do you need, Austin?" Payson asked.

"A week of your time."

"A week?"

"A whole week."

"Are we talking a forty-hour-work-week week or an-all-day-and-night-week week?" Payson could feel the furrow in her brow from confusion. She had expected their usual catch-up conversation focused on how her college classes were pushing her mentally and how Austin's coaching of hopeful future Olympians—or Olym-pains as he sometimes called them—was raising his blood pressure.

"All day and all night," Austin answered and then sputtered, "I mean, you sleep in your own hotel room at night, not in Kaylie and mine's-"

Payson chuckled, "You sure? You don't need anything to throw the tabloids off your relationship again? Becca pointed out last week that three different rags are commenting on how you two are doing."

"Let me guess. We're secretly expecting twins, both carrying on affairs, or one of us is part alien?" Austin joked although Payson picked up a slight edge in his tone.

"Just one baby and you're the only cheater," Payson corrected him.

Austin sighed, "Just as I wondered. My being named to the National team coaching staff has pulled us back into the celebrity watch."

"You couldn't turn that opportunity down, isn't that what Kaylie said?" Austin might not have talked to Payson in the last couple of months, but she had spent a marathon phone session with his girlfriend right after the offer.

 _"This is an amazing chance for Austin. As much as he grumbles about the downsides of the job, he loves to coach."_

 _Payson nodded. "I couldn't agree more. He made that transition from athlete to coach."_

 _"Unlike us," Kaylie laughed._

 _"Did you even try?"_

 _"No," the brunette giggled. "You've seen me with kids who won't listen, Pay."_

 _"You're right. Things are better for everyone if you stick with the business degree."_

 _Kaylie laughed but then turned more serious. "He's considering turning the job down, Pay."_

 _"You're joking right?"_

 _"No." Payson could hear the worry as clearly as if Kaylie's anxious face was sitting on her sofa with her. "He wants to turn it down because of me."_

 _"He's not sure if the increased publicity to you two would be good," Payson guessed._

 _"Right."_

 _"He's worried that it could be too much for you?" Payson knew that Austin had hovered in the early stages of Kaylie's recovery, had tried to shelter her some, but now several years later, if he was still being so overprotective, she wondered if that was healthy for their relationship._

 _"Not that it would be too much, just that it's not something I like dealing with much anymore," Kaylie clarified, and Payson's shoulders relaxed. That sounded more like the Austin-Kaylie dynamic she liked. Looking out for each other._

 _"Did you tell him you'll put up with some annoying paparazzi and unflattering photos of your bad side-"_

 _"I don't have a bad side!" Kaylie interrupted but Payson just continued on._

 _"So that he can take this awesome offer leading into the Olympics?"_

 _"Immediately. In fact that was the only thing that stopped him from calling them back and turning down the job. So how do I convince him that he needs to take advantage of this break?"_

 _Plotting how to convince Austin that he should join the National team coaching staff, the two young women had talked for so long that night that Payson had yawned her way through her eight o'clock class the next day. However, the group text from Austin three days later that announced his new coaching position had been worth it._

"Kaylie wanted you to take the job, Austin. A little time in the spotlight is worth it in the long run."

"I know," he muttered. "Anyway, now that you mention Kaylie, she's why I'm calling."

"Is she ok?" Payson's heartrate sped up even as she noted the irony; she fretted over Austin possibly being overprotective but she often jumped to the thought of a relapse of the anorexia if something seemed off with her friend.

"She's totally fine," he reassured her, "well, except for her Biology lab and feeling a little lonely right now."

"Lonely?"

"You know she just had a birthday two weeks ago, and her girlfriends couldn't come which she understands since you all live so far apart, but it got her thinking."

"About how she misses us?"

"Misses the closeness."

Payson shifted, a little uncomfortable. In all honesty, she had picked up on the growing distance amongst the gymnastics girls some time ago but had just told herself to accept it as part of life. "Emily stayed in LA to raise her boy even after things with Damon fell apart. Kelly ignores anything to do with gymnastics now although I think that's as much to spite her mom as not making the Olympic team. Jordan has been in Paris all year in her exchange program. And Lauren-"

"You don't talk about," Austin finished. "Which Kaylie doesn't understand since you've never told her what Lauren did."

"Kaylie still believes there's good in her," Payson grumbled.

"Now you sound like that doomed queen-slash-senator from Star Wars talking about Darth Vader."

Payson's lips turned up. "Ok, she's not as bad as him. She's never slaughtered Jedi younglings, but I'm happier not dealing with her. Lauren is Kaylie's oldest friend despite everything that's gone down between the two of them over the years, and I'm not going to be the cause of the end of their friendship. Besides, it's not like I ever have to see-"

She stopped in mid-sentence, the unspoken pieces of Austin's plan suddenly falling into place.


	3. Hard to Say No

"Payson? You still there?" Austin's voice echoed through the phone.

She shook her head to refocus. "You seriously want me to spend a week with Lauren?"

"And Kaylie and Emily and Kelly and-"

"Putting us all in a group isn't going to take away the bad parts of our pasts!"

"But those things are in the past," Austin pointed out. "You said you don't let what Lauren did bother you anymore."

Payson groaned, "Because I don't have to deal with her."

"Give yourself some credit, Pay," Austin coaxed. "You forgave her after she gave the edited video to Ellen Beals of you kissing Sasha. That video could have—would have—cost you and Sasha everything. No more gold medals dreams for you. No coaching at the elite level, junior level, novice level, maybe just at the tiny, terrifying tumbling toddlers level for Sasha."

"Tiny, terrifying tumbling toddlers?" Even in her annoyance at Austin's overly-optimistic attitude in regards to her feelings about Lauren, Payson couldn't stop her lips from turning up at his moniker for the youngest group of gymnasts at a gym.

Austin laughed, "You have to admit they're cute from a distance but to actually have to teach two and three year olds?"

"They're usually older than that!"

"They're still scary," Austin reminded her. "The point is, you forgave Lauren her biggest sin against you. Hey, you two became really good friends even."

"Because I thought she'd changed," Payson pointed out, getting up from the couch and starting to pace. "She went through her heart troubles, and then Jake was such a positive influence. I thought she had really put her selfish, me-only past behind and moved forward." The year following their weeks at the Training Center had seen an improved Lauren. She had pushed aside her jealousy from Jordan's appearance and integration into the group. Her friendship with Kaylie had been reforged to stronger than before the whole Carter debacle. She had even accepted her father's relationship and engagement to Chloe Kmetko.

"You think it was all just an act? That Lauren didn't mean any of it?"

"No, not at all!" Payson was quick to answer Austin's question. "I don't know why she felt the need to go back to her old ways, but I know that she wasn't just putting up a façade and not meaning what she said and did. Lauren was the one who insisted we all fly across the country to Boston when Kelly stopped responding to texts and calls. Kelly wasn't a crucial member of our group. Lauren had nothing to gain by dragging us out of class for a few days. Hell, Austin, she really did have a heart for awhile there."

She bit her lower lip at the swear word that slipped out. She knew Austin used far worse, but she was always the clean-mouthed one.

Her friend chuckled again.

"See, Austin! I practically never swear, and I just did, talking about Lauren! That is a horrible sign for us to spend a week together."

"You are strong enough to handle Lauren."

"Uh huh."

"I think you'll just need to watch your mouth a little bit more where we're going."

"Oh, you picked a family-friendly destination?" Payson was a little surprised. She had been visualizing a week at a Caribbean adult-only resort. Either that or a cabin fifty miles into the wilderness. Somewhere that Austin could keep them isolated and forced to interact.

"I picked somewhere that unless things have changed in three years all of you love."

"And that would be?"

"Aren't you going to try and guess?" Austin sounded deflated like he had been looking forward to this guessing game all conversation.

"Austin," Payson whined. It had been a long day at work and this conversation had not gone at all in a direction she had wanted. She was ready to curl up in her pajamas and stop adulting for a bit.

"I'll give you a hint." Austin now sounded hopeful that he could still pull her in for a guess.

"Fine." The pajamas could wait if it meant making her friend happy.

"It's somewhere warm."

"The Bahamas?" Payson tried to play along.

"No passport needed."

"Puerto Rico then."

"Not close to water."

"The Grand Canyon." Payson knew that guess was far-fetched but it was the first remotely-interesting landlocked destination she thought of.

"Really, Pay? You think Lauren likes to hike?"

Payson smirked at the thought of Lauren with her penchant for high heels wobbling along a dusty trail. "No."

"Ok then. I know you all love this place because you all went there."

"Even Emily?" Payson had to ask since the young mother had missed out on a number of events that the other gymnasts had shared.

"Even Emily. Steve made sure that she could go with you guys, and then Chloe babysat her grandson for a few days."

"Disney World," Payson said. They had taken the trip several months after the Olympics. October. Before Kelly shut them out and Damon broke Emily's heart. Long before Lauren's betrayal. Those four days had been carefree and fun-filled; if not for the obvious amazing experience of London, that trip would have been her favorite 2012 memory. "You make it hard for a girl to say no, Austin."

"Oh, I know."

Payson could hear Austin's smile in his voice and opened her mouth to keep him in his place, but he kept talking.

"And I figured you might have some hesitancy about the trip, so I've made it even harder for you to say no."

"Oh really?"

There was a pause, maybe for dramatic effect. "I didn't really like the idea of me being the only guy on the trip, so I invited a few friends along. Luke said yes a couple of hours ago."

Payson's jaw dropped.


	4. Luke

Payson swallowed hard, completely halting in her pacing. She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration at how her friend always knew the right cards to play. Reminding herself to sound only mildly-interested, she replied. "Oh, you invited your cousin?"

 _"Ok, you almost said that at normal pace!"_ Payson silently congratulated herself. _"And your voice was only two or three pitches higher than usual."_

Austin's answer broke into her musings. "Of course! The guy went on vacation to Disney World every summer with his mom owning a timeshare there. He's going to know every trick we need to make the most of our time."

"I thought the point of this trip was so the girls could bond?" Payson asked drily.

"Well, yeah, but why waste time if you don't have to?"

"So you're bringing your cousin along as a tour guide?"

"And to start balancing out the guy-to-girl ratio like I said," Austin replied. "Nick is also coming, and I'm pretty sure Jake can make it."

"Lauren's ok with Jake coming?" While the blonde gymnast and the energetic wrestler had stayed a strong for couple for two years, the hundreds of miles between their homes had finally taken their toll, resulting in a series of fights, break-ups, and short-lived reunions. Last Payson had heard—thanks to a run-in of her mom with Chloe at the grocery store—the two had called it quits again.

Austin sighed, "For now. They're not together again, but as she put it to Kaylie, they're talking and if they lived in the same city, they'd be dating."

Payson shook her head. She didn't feel like dealing with the drama that came with her friends some days, and this evening was definitely one of those times. "Austin, I can't make a decision tonight if I'm going to join you all in Florida."

"What's to think about? It's a free vacation."

"Austin."

His voice was understanding. "I get it, Payson. I figured you wouldn't say yes right away, but a guy can dream. Can you let me know by the end of the week?"

"Sure," she replied. They exchanged good-byes, and Payson clicked the call off. She slumped down on the coach and dropped her head back against the blue cushions. The position wasn't only due to the mental exhaustion of the phone call. From this angle, she couldn't see into her kitchen. No view of the refrigerator with its eclectic mix of photos. Especially one of a group of grinning kayakers. Including one tall, strong, blonde with an amazing smile.

A closer look at the photo would reveal Luke's resemblance to his darker-haired cousin. They had the same build, same facial features. Beyond looks they shared the same commitment to friends and goals. A year older than Austin, Luke had actually been a gymnast as well. On scholarship to a Big Ten University, he had dreamed of making the Olympic team until on-going injuries finally took their toll. He had taken a less-public path after that, going into a career in physical therapy and settling in a position at an office in Boulder. That was how Payson had met Luke. After Lauren's scheming had wrecked her original summer plans last year, Sasha had called on his connections and secured Payson a two-month internship at the office where his gymnasts received treatment—Luke's office. To avoid any conflict of interest or idol-worship, Payson was assigned to work with non-athletes. Luke worked primarily with the gymnasts, so for the first two weeks, she only saw him in passing. However that second Friday evening, the younger employees at the office went out for after work drinks, and over their Cokes the two former gymnasts bonded.

As the weeks passed, their friendship continued to grow. Luke loved hearing stories from Payson's competitive years while she was fascinated by his world travels, often times only accompanied by his Osprey backpack. They spent several evenings a week at Luke's bachelor apartment where they cooked dinner usually successfully although a few attempts ended in ordering a meal from the Pizza Shack. After cleaning the galley kitchen, they watched some TV, played a card or video game, or even just curled up on the couch to read.

At times the relationship confused Payson. She felt more than just friendship for Luke and had seen a similar spark in his gaze multiple times. However, knowing that her life was in Minnesota and Luke was based in Colorado kept both of them from expressing their feelings.

Until Payson's last night in Boulder. Her big going away gathering had been the night before so now it was just the two of them. They enjoyed a quiet dinner at a small restaurant and then just walked, Luke's hand taking hers, the movement completely natural. Just like the kiss at the end of the evening. Payson was too practical after the end of her relationship with Rigo to try to date long distance, and Luke accepted her choice. That did not stop him from remaining in her life though: likes on her Instagram posts, have-a-good-day texts, cartoons clipped from the daily paper and mailed to her. She had to admit that a butterfly or two fluttered in her stomach every time she heard from the physical therapist. A bigger flutter than she felt on any dates she went on that fall semester. Christmas break gave them an afternoon reunion when her family flew out to Boulder for a visit with old friends. During those few hours, Payson basked in how well they connected, but seeing the question about a deeper commitment in Luke's eyes, she was careful to keep the conversation deflected from _them_. Luke kissed her good-bye then too, but his communication over the spring semester was noticeably less frequent than during the fall."

"And now we're going to spend a week together," Payson murmured to herself. The butterflies were definitely back. There was no denying that she would be happy to see Luke. The real question was would he be happy to see her?


	5. I am Strong

Author's note: As always I do not own Make It or Break It nor any of the characters.

Payson peered out the tiny window as the plane geared up for the last part of its descent into Orlando. Two days ago she had taken her last final which had been for her hardest class. She had spent more hours studying, going over labs, attending tutoring sessions, discussing terms and concepts, and calling her mom almost in tears with that class. While the ideas had finally coalesced for Payson, she had still needed a strong grade on the final for a decent grade in the class. However, the stress from that course still did not equal the nervousness she had now.

Payson knew why she was more agitated by the upcoming week in Disney than she had been by her last final: control or more accurately, the complete lack of it. As a gymnast, she had mastered control of her body. She had demanded her limbs to perform seemingly-impossible moves, and with dedicated practice and focus, they had obeyed. As a college student, she had shifted that focus to academics and succeeded again in committing the necessary knowledge to memory. Some days this had been harder than learning to vault, but she still had been in control of the situation. Now though she had no idea how Lauren, Luke, or any of the others would react once they were all in one place.

Austin was unconcerned.

 _"Pay, it's going to be great! Even the weather is shaping up perfect! Sunny but not way hot. Only a little rain predicted!"_

 _"Are you sure Kaylie hasn't taken over your body?" she replied, her voice laced with annoyance at his extreme positive attitude. She was running on maybe four hours of sleep and had been seriously considering throwing her textbook across the room out of frustration when the phone had rung._

 _"Studying for finals going that well?" Austin cut straight to the true cause of Payson's crankiness._

 _"Good call."_

 _"Kaylie warned me that I was probably calling at a bad time."_

 _Payson smiled slightly. At least one of her friends was looking out for her. Kaylie, it turned out, had her back even more, when as soon as Austin had verified the most important trip details with Payson, his girlfriend could be heard in the background calling for him._

 _"Hey, Pay, sorry to cut this short, but Kaylie needs my help with something. Sounds like a spider. Good luck on your final and stop worrying about this trip. It's all going to go great!"_

"Well, we're about to find out if you're right, Austin," she muttered to herself as the plane pulled into its gate. She had snagged a seat in the first five rows of the plane, so retrieving her carry-on from the overhead and stepping off the plane only took a few minutes. Muggy heat hit her as soon as she entered the passageway up to the terminal, a very different feel than the cool spring morning she had left behind in Minnesota. She pulled her carry-on along, resisted the temptation to stop and pick up an iced coffee at a Starbucks. She wanted the caffeine but also wanted something to keep herself occupied when facing the others. Payson sighed and set her shoulders a little higher. She was a gold medalist. She was on track to get her doctorate and become a physical therapist. She was not going to hide behind a cup of coffee. She was strong.

"I am strong," she murmured to herself as she boarded the people mover that would whisk her from the gates to the main terminal. She let the mantra run through her head as they zipped along the rail, sun shining down, palm trees dotting the view. Upon arrival at the main terminal, she checked that she hadn't misplaced a bag—unlikely but a handy stalling technique—and walked forward.

Entering the huge atrium just outside of security, Payson saw Kaylie standing, one arm slung around Austin's waist. Her apprehension about the trip faded as the petite Hispanic detached herself from her significant other and sprinted across the dark flooring to pull Payson into a bear hug.

"It is so good to see you, Payson!" Kaylie squealed into her ear.

"Oww, you're going to deafen me!" Payson said although grinning. "I did just visit you over spring break."

"That was two months ago!"

"Not horribly long."

"Too long to not see a girl's best friend!" Kaylie protested.

"Isn't Austin your best friend?" Payson asked the question in a teasing tone but stopped chuckling as she caught a glimpse of a slight shadow cross Kaylie's happy expression.

"Of course he's my best friend," Kaylie replied, her smile back to full force.

"Kay?"

"My best friend that just lost a bet!" Kaylie continued, tossing her head over her shoulder to look at Austin for those last victorious words. Payson felt the frustration bubble up. Kaylie is keeping secrets, big ones. She knows that her friend has the right to tell what she wishes but after all the harm that came from the secrets surrounding Kaylie's eating disorder, she can't believe that the young woman has not learned to talk about what is wrong.

Just then Kaylie looked back at Payson and said quietly, "Later. Now is not the time."

Payson wanted to ask for at least a hint, but Austin was now next to them and pulling her into another hug albeit a bit calmer than Kaylie's.

"Good to see you, Pay, although if you had been a little slower getting off the plane, I wouldn't have minded."

Payson lifted an eyebrow, "Doesn't sound like it's that good to see me."

"It is!" he protested. "But your speedy arrival meant I lost the bet."

Payson smiled to let him off the hook. "Just giving you a hard time. Now just what was this bet?"

"Who would be first to get here," Kaylie supplied.

"I'm first in the whole group?" Payson felt confused. She had barely glanced at the group texts that Austin had started a day or two ago, but she was sure she had seen that Lauren and Jake were scheduled to arrive an hour or so before her.

"No," Kaylie clarified. "Lauren and Jake have already arrived and gone ahead to the hotel."

"Didn't want to wait?" Payson's voice comes out much more civil than she would have expected. Maybe Austin was right that she could handle this.

"Jake had some work for business to take care of and the hotel was a far calmer environment for that," Austin answered.

Kaylie squeezed her boyfriend's hand. "A good suggestion, hon."

Payson wondered if Austin's suggestion had been done to give her a little more time from Lauren, but the thought passes as Kaylie continues speaking.

"So Lauren and Jake are already here. Nick and Kelly are going to come to the hotel on their own with the Magical Express later since their flight got delayed."

"Delayed?"

"Rain, storms, something like that up in New England."

"Emily?"

"Will be here in a half hour according to flight times so we'll wait for her."

"Why were you betting on Emily?" Payson asked Austin. Between the two, she would take him to Vegas before Kaylie. Choosing someone whose flight came in significantly later was an uncharacteristically bad bet for the man.

"I wasn't," Austin replied, a sly grin creeping up on his face.

"Then who-" Payson's voice died off as she figured out the remaining member of their group. Austin's grin only grew wider as he gave a slight nod over her shoulder. Forcing her expression to stay neutral even as her heartbeat pounded louder, she turned around slowly.

There, twenty feet away, Luke Pierson slowed his steps, his eyes locking on hers.


	6. So Much More

Author's note: Sorry for the longer-than-normal time between updates; I had a little bit of computer issue when the laptop updated to Windows 10. As always I do not own Make It or Break It nor any of the characters.

She knew it was cliché, but Payson's breath really did catch in her throat at the sight of him. Months since they had last seen each other. Weeks since she had heard his voice. The amusing texts were still popping up on her phone once in awhile, but Luke had only mentioned the Disney trip once in a general sense. No special message about looking forward to seeing her.

"Payson, hi." Luke's smile was genuine, his tone casual.

"Hi." She returned the greeting but hesitated to say anything else. It wasn't that she had no idea how she felt about Luke—the butterflies in her stomach answered that question easily. It was that she didn't know how he felt, and she wasn't brave enough to risk making this trip even more awkward in the first hour of being in Florida.

Luke nodded and then turned to Austin. Payson could not hold back a grin at the two's huge bear hug, their typical greeting after some time apart. Outside observers often found it sweet; she had even overheard an elderly lady remark "Oh, how dear!" at one such embrace last summer. However, if the senior citizen had peered closer, she might have noticed that the cousins were actually engaged in a machisimo wrestling match. Austin may have won the world gold medals, but with his stronger grip, Luke tended to win these strength contests. True enough, just like each time Payson had seen them meet in Colorado, Austin surrendered with a low grunt after about a minute.

"Seriously, Luke, how much time do you spend in the gym?" Austin mock-complained, shaking out his arms from the tight squeeze.

"Less than you!" his cousin smirked.

"That's because I work at one!"

Luke grinned at Austin's retort and simply turned to hug Kaylie. "And how are you doing, señorita?"

The petite Hispanic smiled warmly. "Excited for this week! All of us together."

"Are we all here then?" Luke asked, shifting his backpack to his other shoulder. "I didn't think our flights were the last ones."

Payson's eyes flicked to Luke's face at his inclusion of her in his statement, but his focus was entirely on Kaylie.

"No, we're still waiting on three. Emily will be here soon, but Kelly and Nick told us to go on ahead to the resort without them."

"Without them?"

"Flight got delayed," Payson spoke up.

"Weather?" Luke glanced over at her for the answer. Payson nodded and then he looked at Kaylie again. "We're waiting for Emily then?"

"Yep," Kaylie answered. Her eyes flitted from Luke to Payson and back to Luke. "You know if you two wanted to leave your bags with Austin and me and go grab something to eat, that's totally fine. It's going to be a half hour or so until Emily arrives."

"I'm actually not hungry right now," Luke said. "Is there somewhere I can go sit that's a little quieter. There was an unhappy toddler in the row behind me and it'd be nice to get away from some of this hustle."

"Well, you could go down and wait near the counters for the Magical Express," Austin offered. "We are reserved to catch the Disney shuttle after Emily's flight lands, but I'm sure there's somewhere down there you could sit that would be quieter than right here just outside of security."

"Sounds good," Luke replied. "I'll see you guys in a bit then." He flashed a quick good-bye smile that bounced over the other three, not lingering any extra on Payson.

She watched him walk out the multi-storied lobby, sunlight falling on him from the skylights high above.

"That was not what I expected to happen at all!" Kaylie hissed once Luke was definitely out of earshot.

With a rueful twist to her lips, Payson turned to her friends. "Did you think Luke was going to drop to one knee and ask me to spend the rest of my life with him?"

Kaylie huffed. "I'm not that naïve, Pay. I just thought Luke would want to catch up with you. From what you've said, the two of you had a good connection."

"Key word is had."

"But you were the first one of us he greeted!" Kaylie pointed out, her chin taking on a stubborn tilt. "That has to mean something!"

Payson shook her head. "I knew by what he said that it wasn't anything special."

"Because all he said was your name?" Kaylie's eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Because he said my name," Payson corrected.

Although he had been trying to stay out of the conversation, Austin's confusion now pulled him in. "Your name?"

"He was a bit formal. He called me Payson."

"Wouldn't Keeler have been more formal?" Austin asked.

"Only a little bit," Payson sighed and then jumped into the story. "Let's see if I can give you guys the short version."

"Short version?" Austin interrupted.

"What secret have you been keeping?" Kaylie demanded, a spark in her eyes.

"You knew about this, it just didn't really register," Payson protested.

"We did?"

Payson half-glared at the continued interruptions to her attempt at explaining.

"Sorry," Kaylie only looked slightly-repentant, probably more from realizing that her questions were delaying answers than for the questions themselves.

"You know that when I took the summer internship at Luke's office, I didn't want everyone to know that I was the Olympic gold medalist? That I wanted to succeed based on how good I was at the job not at gymnastics?"

"Right."

"So I used my mom's maiden name instead of Keeler?"

"Oh, I remember that!" Kaylie exclaimed. "Achman?"

"Akerman."

"And it really did work for a little bit," Austin added.

"About two weeks. I got that look sometimes, that don't-I-know-you-from-somewhere, but no one made the connection."

"Until someone came to the clinic for a visit." Kaylie pursed her lips, trying to recall the detail.

"The owner," Payson supplied. "Sasha had made the arrangements with the manager for me so she knew my real name and so did the woman doing payroll but that was it."

"But she couldn't keep it a secret from the owner," Kaylie said.

Payson nodded. "And that woman thought having an Olympic athlete on staff even if just as an intern was too big of a publicity moment to keep quiet. So the next day when I came into work, I had a new name badge and a bit of explaining to do."

"Your co-workers took it all in stride pretty well though right?" Austin asked, not quite as familiar with the story as his girlfriend.

"They did," Payson replied. "Most of them found it easier to call me Payson rather than Miss Keeler which was fine. Luke continued to call me Akerman when we weren't around patients, but he winked when he did it, so I knew he was joking."

"So that's his nickname for you?"

Payson hesitated. Really, it was so much more.

 _"Ever wonder why I keep calling you by the wrong last name?" Luke asked that last night in Colorado. They were sitting on a stone wall at the top of a hill, the sky twinkling in brilliant stars above them._

 _Payson shook her head. "Isn't it just your idea of a nickname?"_

 _Luke reached over and tugged her against him, his arm wrapped securely around her shoulders. "It's the name I connect with the you I first fell for."_

 _"You were interested that early?" Payson could not keep the surprise out of her voice._

 _Luke chuckled, the sound rumbling from his chest into her. "It wasn't like Cupid's arrow-"_

 _"Thank goodness," Payson mumbled. She didn't trust the idea of love at first sight._

 _Luke squeezed the blond woman closer at that comment. "Thanks for not taking that the wrong way. You carried yourself with confidence, not arrogance, but a sureness of who you are, and that attracted me."_

 _Payson was glad that her head was tucked against Luke's shoulder as she felt heat creep up her face. "So you like being reminded of those early days?"_

 _"I do," Luke replied. "Does it bother you?"_

 _"Not at all," she whispered back._

The intimate name had stuck through the following months, the sight of it in a text giving Payson warm feelings whenever she saw it.

"Pay?" Kaylie's voice pulled her away from her memories. "Luke called you Akerman as a nickname?"

"Yeah, just a nickname," she replied. Luke hadn't called her Akerman in several months. Whatever significance the name had once held, it was now all in the past.


	7. Over the Drama

"Hey, Payson, sit up here with me," Emily suggested as they boarded the bus that would whisk them away from the busy airport and to the more tranquil setting of their Disney resort.

The blonde gymnast paused. Austin and Kaylie had just settled next to Luke who was in the second row of the bus. This trip was supposed to be a chance for the group to reconnect, and they had yet to be a group larger than four at any one time.

"Go on," Kaylie said softly, and then smiled as she added, "I did get to see you a lot more recently than Emily has."

"Ok." Payson hurried past what appeared to be a large family reunion and then a honeymooning couple to slide into the seat next to Emily.

"Thank you," the young mother whispered, her face serious. "I just needed a little space for the ride."

"Space?"

Emily looked a little sheepish. "Seeing Kaylie so happy with Austin. I thought I was over all the Damon drama that went down between the two of us, but-"

"You're still upset with Kaylie?" Payson felt her stomach twist.

"No!" Emily replied quickly and took a deep breath. "No, I am over the drama. I don't blame Kaylie for all of it like I did before. Damon made choices, I made choices, she made choices that all contributed to the mess. It's just that sometimes I wish things had turned out differently. That he had stepped up to be the man and father that we needed. That I got my happily ever after."

Emily and Payson both smiled at the irony of that statement as the video above them flashed to scenes from inside the Magic Kingdom.

"So are you going to be ok for this trip?" Payson asked. A part of her hated the prodding and yet if there was going to be trouble, she wanted to be prepared.

Emily's eyes focused on the back of the seat in front of her. "I think so. I mean, I'm not going to go crazy and attack Kaylie or Austin if that's what you're worried about." She chuckled as she looked back at Payson.

Payson rubbed her friend's shoulder. "No, I'm worried about you. We haven't seen in other in a long time, but I still want the best for you."

"Thanks," Emily hugged Payson back. "I won't let Damon overshadow this trip. He's not even here!"

"Exactly."

"Besides," Emily's eyes gleamed. "I noticed that we have a new guy in our group."

Payson's stomach lurched again but since their bus driver was giving them a smooth drive, she couldn't blame it on hitting a pothole. "You mean Luke?"

"He's Austin's cousin right?" Emily leaned up in her seat to try to take a peek of the occupants of the front of the bus. Payson looked right along with her but leaned out of her seat into the aisle—just as Luke stuck his head into the aisle and glanced back. She felt her cheeks flame but Luke simply shot her a grin and settled back into his seat.

Emily tilted her head at her seatmate. "I'm guessing I'm not the only one carrying some ex baggage?"

Payson stifled a groan. "We didn't date."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "I always admired your honesty, Pay."

"We didn't," she shrugged. "We both worked in the same place last summer. There was interest but nothing came of it."

"So Luke's on the market then?"

Payson ignored how much she disliked the sound of that. "As far as I know. He hasn't mentioned anyone since last summer."

"But you haven't asked."

"Why would I?"

"Because you're interested!" Emily said, her voice rising.

"Shh!" Payson hushed her friend and glanced towards the front of the bus. Thankfully no one up there appeared to be paying any attention to the conversation going on rows behind them.

"You always amazed me with your ability to be so good and determined about going after your gymnastics goal but then floundering when it came to other parts of your life," Emily mused.

Payson glared. "I'm not interested in a long-distance relationship, Em. You of all people should understand."

Emily's eyes drifted off again. "Yeah, I know."

Payson felt like an idiot for allowing her annoyance to get the better of her. Emily had been through so much more than her, than probably any of them. Bringing up a crucial factor in why Damon and she had not worked was not fair. However, before she could apologize, Emily spoke up again.

"Enough drama gossip. Want to see some pictures of my son that I took at the splash pad last week?"

"Of course!" Payson shifted so she could see the screen of Emily's phone better. From the close resemblance to Emily, Payson figured little Gavin looked a lot like Emily's brother Brian had when he was toddler-age. Then Emily scrolled to a close-up of the boy grinning widely.

"Oh!"

"I know." Emily's expression was wistful as she gazed on the shot. "He was a calm baby but not crazy happy. Not a giggler."

"Sounds like his mom."

Emily smiled. "My mom commented on how much he has some of my mannerisms. Isn't that funny when he's still so young? Anyway, he's started smiling a lot more in the last year, and it still catches me every time how much of Damon is in that grin."

"Is he," Payson paused and then pushed forward with the awkward question. "Is he involved at all?"

"He calls once a week, sometimes texts from the road," Emily answered. "He actually seemed pretty interested in this trip even after I told him that Gavin was staying with Mom."

"Well, it is Disney World," Payson replied. "Most people like Disney."

Emily chuckled. "I can bet. Damon must be one of them. He started giving me some advice on what I had to go see until I cut him off, practically in mid-sentence."

"You cut him off while he was talking?"

That wistful look was back, this time tinged with sadness. "I want him to be part of Gavin's life but it's better for me if he's not part of mine beyond our son. I may be over the drama from when I was pregnant but I'm not quite over him."


	8. No Longer Friends

"Welcome home, everyone!" Lauren flung open the door. Whatever else Lauren might have planned to say disappeared as Kaylie engulfed her in a hug.

Payson took a step back, suddenly understanding Emily's earlier reticence to be all sunshine and welcoming with Kaylie. The anger towards Lauren was gone, had been for months honestly. However as she had confided to Austin, Payson felt no urge to embrace the other blond woman or even say more than hi.

"Hey, Luke, come meet Lauren." Austin waved to his cousin after giving Lauren a quick hello hug. Payson glanced at Luke who had just turned towards her as well. It may have been months since they had seen each other, but she could easily read the comment in his eyes: "This is the friend that betrayed you, isn't she?" The topic had only come up once between them during a late-night conversation that inspired complete openness.

 _"So I'm guessing by now you know my Olympic story," Payson said, focusing on the cup of hot chocolate cupped between her fingers. It may have been July but two am in the morning in Colorado still could carry quite a nip in the outside air._

 _Luke's attention was on the stars above them as he kept his reply casual. "You know several others at the office googled your name the day we found out your real last name right?"_

 _"Yep."_

 _"And that they made sure to share the most important details?"_

 _"Yep," she said again. "I'm guessing my back injury was one of those?"_

 _Luke turned to her now, "Do you know how incredible your story is? That injury should have ended your career and yet you have three Olympic gold medals!"_

 _"And two silvers, don't forget those."_

 _"I wasn't sure how you felt about your final place in the all-around so I didn't want to bring it up."_

 _Payson took a sip of her drink before replying. "When it happened, I was upset with myself although looking at the photos from the medal stand, I think I hid it well. After a few months and some perspective, I made my peace with the placing."_

 _"And now a year later?"_

 _Another sip of the hot chocolate and then, "I'm proud of it. You're right that the back injury should have ended my career but my body went through more than just an injury. The time off meant that my body changed into a woman's. I had to adjust to the changes and deal with the perspective of some judges that I didn't look right to be a gold medalist."_

 _Luke snorted. "That's so wrong."_

 _"It's part of why Kaylie developed an eating disorder. Whether we like it or not, some of the moves are easier to do with a smaller body and artistically for some judges a more child-like image is preferred." Payson grimaced. "I think that viewpoint is slowly changing but I know I still went up against it at the Games."_

 _"Doesn't seem fair to me," Luke said. "If you can do the move, it shouldn't matter what your body looks like."_

 _Payson shrugged. "Gymnastics has always had a level of subjectivity in its scores. It's not like track and field where it's obvious who's the best."_

 _"First one across the finish line."_

 _"Exactly, an obvious winner. Gymnastics is more nuanced."_

 _"In other words easier to score down an athlete who isn't the right body type?"_

 _Payson grimaced. "Like I said an athlete's look can influence a score. I'm so proud of what I accomplished. Would the gold in the all-around have been amazing? Most definitely. But we earned the team gold and that one is more important to me."_

 _"Group glory rather than individual."_

 _Payson smiled softly. "Honestly, that's how it always was. There were three of us who started at the same gym as youngsters and grew up learning and competing together."_

 _"The Rock Rebels."_

 _"Well, that name came later when there were more of us but the three of us were part of that group. I wanted to win but I also always wanted to see my friends do their best as well. That's why the team gold was so important. I probably pushed a little harder than I should have that day but it was worth it."_

 _"Your team won overwhelming."_

 _"We did and then went on to more success in the other finals."_

 _"You walked away with more medals than any other gymnast in the whole Games."_

 _She nodded._

 _"But that's not the main point you want to tell me," Luke probed._

 _Payson shook her head. "I need you to understand how important my bonds with those girls and the others on the National team were. For us to have been that successful we had to trust each other completely."_

 _"Well, I'd say you all did based on the medal count."_

 _"That's what I thought too," Payson replied. "So it came as huge shock a few years later when one of those friends used my past against me to get something she wanted."_

 _"What happened?"_

 _Payson was quiet for a long minute. She wanted to explain the story but still hesitated to completely out Lauren's actions, old loyalties not completely gone. "The internship here in Boulder was not my first choice."_

 _"Really? We're a great clinic!"_

 _"I know!" Payson hurried to assure Luke. She even turned to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. They both fell silent at the gesture but then he reached up and took a firmer hold on her hand._

 _Lacing his fingers between hers, Luke said, "So you don't feel like you're losing out on learning being here?"_

 _"No!"_

 _"Good." He gave her hand a squeeze and then released it._

 _Payson took a quick breath and then continued her story. "I originally had applied for another internship which one of my former teammates also applied for. We both made it to the interview stage but mine was very short. Just long enough for them to tell me that my friend had informed them of something I did several years earlier that made them not comfortable offering me a position."_

 _"Something illegal?"_

 _"No," Payson replied. "Just a big mistake. Anyway, now you know why my former coach stepped in and arranged for me to come here. The whole story."_

Although now standing here in the warm Florida air, Payson realized that Luke had been missing a crucial piece: the identity of the friend that had betrayed her. She had kept her story vague enough that he had seemed to assume it had been one of the non-Olympic members of the National team. Her reaction to Lauren's appearance had given that secret away.

Thankfully, Luke turned back towards the doorway and greeted Lauren with complete politeness, even a smile. Emily nudged Payson forward next.

"Payson," Lauren said, a grin plastered on her face but her eyes held uncertainty.

"Hi, Lauren," Payson allowed her mouth to relax into a smile but did not step forward to hug the other woman. "You look good."

"Thanks," Lauren replied. There was a bit of relief to her expression now. They had passed that initial hurdle and gotten the answer to how things stood between them.

Payson summed up their new relationship in her head as she slipped inside their villa rooms: Not enemies but no longer friends.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Sorry for long delay for this chapter. I was traveling with fourteen of my students for the last two weeks!**

 **As always I do not own MIOBI.**

* * *

Over the years of traveling with either her family or a gymnastics team, Payson had stayed in more hotels than she could count. Most had been nothing fancy, basically somewhere to get rest between days of competition. She had been so focused on giving her best in the gymnastics arenas that she remembered very little of each one individually. Even memories of the dormitory-style rooms of the Olympic housing blurred at times, popping back into clarity when she flipped through photos from those busy days. Granted those rooms had not been very distinctive: single beds with minimal furnishings, the brightest colors coming from the bedspreads.

As soon as she stepped inside the door, Payson realized that these rooms in the Old Key West resort were going to stick out for awhile. She stood in a two-story sitting room with windows on both levels streaming sunshine and French doors that opened onto a small balcony. Couches and armchairs invited lounging although right now only Jake was staked out, his fingers flying over a laptop on the coffee table in front of him.

"Hey, Payson!" The former wrestler flashed her a smile even as he kept typing. "Great to see you!"

"Good to see you too, Jake." She smiled back. "Still trying to get your work done?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "A half hour ago, I thought I was good to go and then another member of the committee texted me some changed data."

"Which means you have to go in and change your information."

"Exactly. If I didn't love numbers so much," Jake laughed, a mix of being comfortable in what he did and acceptance that getting annoyed over the extra work would not get it done any faster.

Lauren unfortunately did not seem to share the same philosophy as she slid into the conversation. "You've been working non-stop since we got here. Can't you e-mail the group back and tell them you're on vacation?"

"Barbie," Jake grinned at his girlfriend. "They know I'm on vacation, a vacation that originally I wasn't supposed to start until tomorrow."

Lauren's lips pursed. Payson could sense that the woman could tell where Jake was headed but was still not happy about it.

"I promised them I'd take care of this bit of work. Once it's done, I'm a free man for the rest of the trip."

"But we haven't even gotten to really look around this place," Lauren replied, a little pout forming on her face. "We were supposed to take a walk before the others got here and all the walking you've done is to drop your bag in one of the bedrooms."

"Speaking of which," Jake murmured and then raised his voice, "Austin, I don't know what you were thinking for rooming so Lauren and I just put our bags in one of the rooms, so they were out of the main area. Just let us know where you want to move us."

"Thanks," Austin replied. Payson noticed that he didn't automatically say that where Jake and Lauren had settled was ok.

 _"Good,"_ she thought to herself. _"You might be one of Kaylie's closest friends, but Austin hasn't forgotten that you tend to focus more on your own needs than those of the group."_

However, as soon as the thought finished forming in her mind, Payson felt a twinge of guilt and doubt. She had dealt with the anger towards Lauren a long time ago, but now her she was judging her without allowing the other woman a chance to show if she had matured in the last year.

Emily grabbing her arm pulled Payson away from her inner musings.

"Coffee maker, Pay!"

"You really weren't kidding about your coffee addiction, were you?"

Emily shook her head. "I know that most decent places have coffee machines in the room now especially somewhere like this but it makes me feel so much better to know I can get my cup of magic right here in the morning."

"I don't remember you being such a huge coffee fan," Kaylie spoke up.

Emily swallowed as she looked over at the most petite member of the group. "I liked it when I was training with you but it wasn't until I had Colin that I really got attached to my coffee wake-me-up. Being a single mom means running on not a lot of sleep, so my energy comes from caffeine."

"Oh, I see," Kaylie faltered after an awkward pause.

Emily's eyes flashed, "Oh you do? You see that being completely responsible for a child is more than just being a bit addicted to coffee?"

Kaylie's eyes widened at the edge in Emily's voice, and Payson also turned to look at her more closely.

"Em?"

"What is so exciting here in the kitchen?" Lauren chirped, her ponytail bouncing behind as she slid into the trio. "Don't you want to check out the bedrooms? Figure out where everyone is going to sleep?"

"Sure, that sounds good," Payson said quickly, hoping to divert the blonde's attention from the tense looks on their faces. However, Lauren had always been able to hone into any disagreement.

"Oh, I'm interrupting something, aren't I?" she asked, her expression concerned although Payson swore she could see a hint of calculation deep in Lauren's eyes.

"If you call debating who gets the coffee maker first in the morning something to interrupt, then I guess so," Emily replied, her eyes still focused on Kaylie.

"All yours," the Hispanic woman said, her voice subdued but close enough to normal that Lauren dropped that line of conversation.

"Then let's go figure the beds out!" Lauren smiled broadly and wrapped an arm around Kaylie's waist. The simple intimacy of the gesture caught at Payson, and she unexpectedly found herself reminded of those early gym days when the three of them had been each other's complete support system. Lauren and Kaylie had always been more open with their emotions, but there had never been a question that each girl had the others' back. She held back a sigh as she thought about how much she disliked scrutinizing every move Lauren made along with trying to anticipate and defuse Emily's anger towards Kaylie. She shoved the emotions aside as the women entered the bedroom on the main floor.

"Ok, here we have room for two people, most likely a couple would like this space best," Lauren said, taking on the role of hostess, a position really more Kaylie's but by arriving earlier, the blonde had a familiarity with the villa the others did not.

"Right," Kaylie agreed. Payson glanced around the room with its large bed and small sitting area. Her eyes fell on Lauren and Jake's bags, a flowery one open on the chair with several belongings spilling out.

"And upstairs are the other bedrooms," Lauren said, leading them back out into the living room where the three guys were lounging, Jake still on his laptop, the other two relaxing.

Kaylie looked over to her boyfriend, "Austin, do you want to come look at the bedrooms? We're trying to figure out where everyone will be sleeping."

Austin gave her a mischievous grin. "I trust you in picking out somewhere for us to sleep. As long as there's room for both of us, that's all I care about."

Kaylie's face looked as if she had spent the afternoon outside in the Florida sun rather than inside a plane. Payson suppressed a grin at her friend's quick coloring. They were all adults now, but Kaylie was still a little sensitive about discussing her sex life so openly.

"Let's go see the rooms," Payson walked towards the stairs, and Kaylie hurried after her. The stairs opened onto a small loft space that looked down over the living room area. To the right and to the left a bedroom with its own bathroom flanked the loft.

"Each bedroom has two queen beds, so room for four people," Kaylie said as the four regrouped in the loft.

"And don't forget that this couch actually folds out into a bed," Austin called up from his comfortable spot.

"Well, with only nine of us I don't think we need to worry about using that," Kaylie yelled back.

"Unless people want more of their own space!" was Austin's loud response.

"Maybe we should go downstairs to continue this discussion?" Payson suggested, wincing inwardly at their echoes.

Kaylie smiled, "Good idea."

Kaylie had just reached the main floor, the other three still on the stairs, when someone knocked at the door. Kaylie's smile turned puzzled.

"Kelly and Nicky aren't scheduled to arrive for several more hours," Austin said, getting up from the couch.

"Wonder who it is then?" Kaylie asked, reaching for the door handle.

Payson wanted to tell her friend to hold on just a moment, to take a glance through the peephole, but she had already opened the door.

The petite woman's jaw dropped.

"Who is it, Kay?" Lauren asked impatiently, her view of the entrance blocked from where she stood on the stairs.

"I don't believe it!"


	10. Until Two Days Ago

Even though some part of her gut told Payson that the person on the other side of the doorframe posed no threat, the shock on Kaylie's face pushed her forward quickly. However, Payson felt the tension in her shoulders fly away as she recognized their visitor.

"Jordan!"

"Why didn't you tell me Jordan was coming?" Kaylie squealed, half turned towards her boyfriend, one arm draped around the other woman. By now Austin had raised himself up from the couch and joined the former gymnasts in the entryway.

"Because until two days ago we didn't think I could make it," Jordan grinned. Payson smiled back. After the Olympics all of them had led busy lives thanks to their success but Jordan had followed the most unexpected path. She had risen to capture silver with a powerful vault, and then her charisma during the following interview had caught the eye of a TV producer in Canada. She had been hesitant to take on such a different challenge but after finishing the tour of Champions with the other girls, had packed two duffel bags and headed north. She was signed to a guest role, just part of one story arc that she kept secret from everyone. When those episodes aired in the States several months later, Jordan surprised anyone who tuned in. Most of America was awed by her amazing acting ability. Having seen Jordan perform exceptional impersonations during team bonding time, her Olympic sisters were not surprised by her skill but her choice of a role. Jordan had played the part of a teenaged victim of abuse.

 _"I thought you were brave, continuing to compete in gymnastics after what your coach did," Kaylie spoke up in a group call among the former Olympians minutes after the episode finished._

 _There was a pause, and then Jordan replied, "I was able to be brave because I had you all to support me. You showed me that I wasn't permanently broken or ruined. There are too many young women out there who think that the abuse has shattered anything they have to offer. That they deserve to be in such a bad place. The chance to reach out to them and give them hope was what drew me to this show."_

 _"You chose the character because of your similar pasts?" Kaylie asked the question the others were thinking."_

 _Jordan's line was quiet again for a moment. "I had the chance to read her whole arc before deciding if I wanted the part. I saw in her the chance to begin to tell my story, how I overcame the abuse to become an Olympic champion."_

 _"You're going to use this part to bring your story in the public eye," Kaylie realized the truth faster than the other women. The team had kept a lot secret in those months leading up to and following the Olympics. Light ones like Lauren's budding relationship with a bronze-winning wrestler. Dark ones like the abuse Jordan had suffered at the hands of a once-trusted coach. Jordan had known that her background would come to light as the criminal case slowly crept forward but the others had thought she was content to stay out of the spotlight. However, Kaylie had caught hints of a restlessness in Jordan's eyes, always fleeting, but she had recognized the expression. She had worn it herself when trying to figure out how much of her battle with anorexia to reveal to the public._

 _"Yes," Jordan answered, this time firmly, no hesitation._

That guest role had turned into a recurring character. Jordan had recorded a Public Service Announcement that briefly touched on her own personal experience and then given hotline numbers to call for help. The PSA aired right after the episode that broadcast less than 24 hours before her criminal case went public. Since then, Jordan had juggled a growing Hollywood career along with becoming a powerful spokeswoman against abuse.

"You're in the middle of filming right now, right?" Kaylie asked.

Jordan nodded. "We've just spent the last three weeks working on some scenes for the movie. We had gorgeous weather and wrapped up those scenes early, so I could meet you all here. Kay, you're right, Jamaica is gorgeous!"

"Movie?" Emily asked.

"Jamaica?" Lauren spoke up. Payson realized that she was more interested in the two questioners than Jordan's answers. Emily's face was full of open curiosity. Not knowing Jordan personally, she wanted to know the fun details about the other women's more unique job. Lauren's face on the other hand, showed a jealousy at the exciting location that Jordan had visited. Luckily for Lauren, only Payson caught the fleeting look of envy; the others wanted to listen to the actress.

"I don't want to give anything about the movie away since we still have quite a bit of filming and definitely a ton of editing to go," she replied, "but we have gotten some really good shoots on the island."

"Oh, so you've been really busy," Lauren said. "I bet you didn't get a chance to do any sightseeing, visit anything besides the set for your movie."

 _"Are you going to play nice, Lauren?"_ Payson thought to herself. The shorter woman had asked the question in a pleasant-enough tone, but Payson suspected Lauren just wanted to knock down Jordan's experience, make it seem like any other work trip to a skyscraper-filled city in the United States.

"We found some free time to be tourists," Jordan grinned, "and I would love to chat about it, but right now I am starved. What's the dinner plan?"

"Well, we've got three choices basically," Austin entered the conversation. "One, we can order pizza from room-service. Two, the resort has its own restaurant, Olivia's Café. Three, we take a boat and head over to Disney Springs and pick from one of the many restaurants over there."

Jordan's eyes lit up at the idea of traveling by boat but then she twisted her lips. "How long does it take to get to Disney Springs?"

Austin shrugged, "Depends on how long we have to wait on the boat really."

"I've got my bag of peanuts from the plane ride," Luke spoke up from behind Payson, and it took all of her self-control not to jump at his unexpected closeness.

"Perfect!" Jordan reached towards him, Luke's hand brushing Payson's shoulder as he handed over the small red bag. She turned slightly, and their eyes caught. He didn't glance away but held her gaze until Jordan spoke again.

"Let's go, everyone! These peanuts won't hold me over for long!" The group flowed out the door, Payson and Luke separating in the movement. However, she played the moment over again in her hand as they headed towards the Hospitality House and the boat dock. Occupied in the memory, Payson missed the dark look that crossed Lauren's face as Jordan linked arms with Kaylie and started talking about Jamaica.


	11. Make A Decision

**Author's Note: I do not own any of MIOBI.**

* * *

"So we got lucky with the boat," Austin said, leaning his head forward in between Payson and Emily. Both girls twisted in their seats to get a better angle on seeing him. The new position meant that Payson now also looked right at Luke who had taken a seat next to his cousin since Kaylie was still deep in Jamaica conversation with Jordan.

"I'm not sure what I liked best, the beaches, the food, the climate." Snippets of that conversation floated their way. Payson noticed Lauren leaning over from the row she shared with Jake to try to insert herself into Jordan and Kaylie's discussion, but Luke speaking up pulled her attention back to the closer conversation.

"You've always had good timing though, cuz," Luke said to Austin. "You rarely had a misstep on any of your gymnastics moves. You became a star right when several sponsors needed a new face to support. A coaching job opened when you decided to retire from competitive gymnastics. And then you got that really good deal on that-"

Luke stopped in mid-sentence as Austin started coughing. Both girls turned their attention to the dark-haired man whose face was turning red.

"Are you ok, Austin?" Payson asked.

"Honey?" Kaylie spoke up from the row behind him.

He waved a hand, shooting a quick look at Luke. "Good, just a bug."

Kaylie scrunched her nose, "Eww."

"Yeah," Austin chuckled although Payson thought it sounded a little forced. He turned back to Luke. "So are you done listing all my good timing moments?"

The edge of Luke's mouth quirked up, and Payson recognized the hint of an upcoming joke.

"You have an odd knack for being able to find a parking spot opening up just five spaces or less from the building every time."

Austin grinned and his shoulders relaxed. "Yeah, I swear we have to walk a half mile every time from the car to the building when I let you drive us somewhere."

Luke shrugged, "I'm helping you train for all the walking we'll be doing this week in the parks."

"Any other fun timing stories?" Emily asked, her eyes darting more to Luke than Austin.

"Well, I certainly don't have Austin's good sense."

"Oh, but the poor timing stories are more interesting, aren't they?" Emily's eyes twinkled, and Luke grinned back at her. Payson felt a tug in her stomach at Luke's friendly expression.

" _Calm down, Pay,"_ she thought to herself. _"They're just talking. You don't need to be jealous. Anyway, you're not with Luke. He can flirt with whoever he wants."_

"Well, there was the cell phone alarm incident," Austin supplied helpfully.

Luke sighed, "That was an awful week. I thought my boss was going to start driving by my apartment in the mornings to make sure I got to work on time."

"What?" Emily was genuinely intrigued. Payson knew the story but was also curious of how detailed a story Luke would tell.

"Go ahead," Austin urged. "Tell the girls about how your phone was out to get you."

Luke looked at Payson. Austin apparently didn't know that she was already aware of the problems Luke had experienced.

 _"Didn't he tell Austin about us?"_ she wondered. _"I thought he was close to Austin."_

"I actually just heard this story about a month ago," Austin continued. "Last fall when it happened my texts from Luke were either about work or a girl."

Payson's heartbeat ratcheted up and she couldn't stop her head from turning to look at Austin who then gave her a sly wink. The wink only succeeded in making her cheeks pink up a little and now she was looking anxiously at Emily to see if her friend had noticed. Emily though was facing Luke.

"Well, it must be a good one for you to remember it several months later," she prodded.

"More like my co-workers just won't let me forget about it," Luke grumbled although his eyes smiled.

Payson snorted—Luke's officemates more resembled a close-knit family than coworkers; of course they had continued to joke about his week of nearly missing work each day. However, the snort drew Emily's attention.

"Have you heard this story?" Emily sounded surprised.

"Ah, yeah," Payson fumbled. "Remember, I had my summer internship at Luke's office so I know his co-workers and how much they care about each other."

Now Luke snorted. "You mean how much they enjoy knowing the details of everyone's lives?"

"Just as much as you do," Payson countered. Luke's eyebrows shot up.

"Are you accusing me of being a gossip?"

"No," Payson replied. "You actually were more of a listener than a talker when they were discussing events."

"But you were in on it," Austin pointed out, clearly enjoying razzing his cousin.

Luke glared at Austin, and Emily laughed. "So basically because everyone in your office likes to either talk or listen, Payson has gotten to hear a fun story but Austin and I are still in the dark? That doesn't sound very fair."

"I said it really isn't that great," Luke protested.

Emily's eyes twinkled. "How about you let me be the judge of how funny it is?"

Payson felt that twinge of jealousy again as Luke grinned back at the other woman and then started his tale. He had spent a long weekend in late July at a resort in Ibiza, Spain to celebrate the wedding of a college friend. Unfortunately upon returning to the US, he was not the only one dealing with jet lag; for some unknown reason, his phone kept resetting itself to the Central European Time Zone. Tired and a little sore from hours of dancing at the reception, Luke didn't realize the problem until the physical therapy office called fifteen minutes into his shift with the question of why he hadn't shown up at work. He had shown up with still messy hair and shoved his phone at Erik, their tech guru. Erik had smirk and changed the time before handing it back to Luke. The two men would repeat this exchange four more times that day with Erik's smirk eventually turning into a bewildered shrug.

 _"Ugh," Luke sighed, glaring at his phone as Payson put a file down on the counter._

 _"Still not working?"_

 _"Nope and I don't know when it's going to be consistently back on Mountain Time."_

 _"What does Erik say to do?"_

 _"Buy a real alarm clock," Luke grumbled._

 _Payson chuckled, "Have something against alarm clocks?"_

 _"Too many bad memories of being dragged out of sleep by that obnoxious beeping."_

 _"I could call you each morning to make sure you're up," she offered._

 _Luke stared at her, "Really?"_

 _"Why not? I'm up for my morning run and I have a longer commute to work than you anyway."_

 _"It's not a bother?"_

 _Payson sighed this time, the sound full of exasperation. "I wouldn't have offered if it was."_

 _The first wake-up call was short, just long enough for Payson to make sure Luke was truly awake and moving, not about to flop back down on his pillow. There was also an awkward feel to that call. However, as the week went by, the awkwardness faded. Luke was a morning person and started joking with Payson on the third day. By the one-week mark, the two ended up talking for almost fifteen minutes. The conversation would have continued except Payson saw her microwave clock and practically yelled that she needed to go NOW to get her shower between her run and work._

"That was really nice of you, Pay," Emily said. The blonde nearly jumped at being pulled into the conversation and away from the memory. All three were looking at her.

She just shrugged. "I try to be a nice person."

"Saved Luke having to buy an alarm clock," Emily smiled but shifted the expression over to Luke. He was still watching Payson.

"And gave me some good morning company," he said slowly, a grin glowing deep in his eyes.

Payson smiled back, feeling a little warmth start deep inside. "It was a good week."

"But I bet it was a relief when your phone started working again," Emily said.

Luke nodded, his attention going back to her as he replied. "It's nice when technology does what it's supposed to."

The conversation then shifted to talking about technology woes. Payson mostly listened, observing how Emily kept engaging Luke. The small warmth inside sparked by Luke's smile was joined by another simmering, one that Payson recognized as a bit of confused jealousy.

As the boat neared Disney Springs, Kaylie interrupted their conversation to ask the boys their opinion on dinner choices, and Emily turned her attention to Payson.

"You were pretty quiet, Pay."

"You had control of the conversation," she replied softly, not trusting a higher volume to conceal the irritation she knew she was feeling.

Emily exhaled, "You know, if you would've just admitted that you're still interested in Luke, I wouldn't have to make you jealous."

Payson's head whipped towards the other woman. "What?"

"I know you, Pay," Emily replied, keeping her voice low. "In competition you were pretty much fearless, but when it comes to your personal life, you rarely make a move unless you are pushed."

"So you aren't interested in Luke?" Payson was still confused.

Emily smirked, "No more than he is in me."

Payson glared at Emily, but her friend just shook her head.

"Payson, I'm not the type of girl to go after a guy her friend has an interest in. I've been on the other side of that," she replied, her tone dark for a slight moment. "But I can see that Luke is a great guy and most women don't have you as a friend and won't feel any hang up pursuing him."

There was a small bump right then as their boat nudged against the landing dock, and Emily hurried to say her last words. "So you need to make a decision: either go after Luke or stop thinking you want him."


	12. Changed

_Author's Note: So I know it has been awhile since I updated and I don't think this is my strongest chapter but now that life has slowed down a little, I hope to get back into this piece. Thanks for still reading!_

Coming up into the main thoroughfare of Disney Springs, Payson immediately noticed a mix of stores, all calling out to the would-be shopper.

"Oooh, Sanuk!" Lauren trilled, starting to veer to the left to a footwear store ahead of them. She turned back to Jake, "Babe, we can get you a new pair of shoes to replace those ones you've worn into the ground."

Jake looked down at his dark canvas shoes and then back at Lauren, his mouth downturned. "I've had these since my last Worlds competition!"

"Exactly, babe," she replied, her small nose wrinkling. "That was two years ago."

"They're comfortable!" Jake protested.

"They're past their prime use date," Lauren pointed out, waving down at the well-used pair. Privately, Payson had to agree with Lauren that the shoes had certainly seen better days. However, she sure as heck was not going to admit out loud that she agreed with the fashion diva on anything. Plus Payson felt that even if Jake's shoes were less than pristine, it was his decision what to wear.

Jake sighed and put on a puppy dog face. Lauren just crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Payson noticed Jake glancing over Lauren's shoulder and his face lit up.

"Didn't you say you wanted a new pair of sunglasses?" he asked.

"Yes," Lauren replied, looking slightly confused by the change in conversation.

"I see a sunglass shop right over there," Jake pointed, his expression one of triumph as Lauren turned to look. Payson smothered a smile at his successful bait-and-switch, Lauren already starting to walk towards the eye accessories.

"Whoa, wrong way. Dinner is in the opposite direction," Jordan spoke up. Payson glanced over and saw a brief flash of relief cross Kaylie's face.

 _"She didn't want to be the one to tell Lauren no,"_ Payson realized.

Lauren paused and twisted back towards Jordan. "There are plenty of food options around here."

"We decided on the Earl of Sandwich on the boat ride, remember?"

Lauren rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yeah, but there are so many other good choices here."

"Sit-down choices," Jordan reminded the blonde. "And the group consensus was that we were hungry and wanted to get to food quickly."

"We can always order appetizers at a sit-down place," Lauren replied flippantly.

Jake reached for his girlfriend's hand. "Lauren, they asked our opinion. You said you didn't care."

"Well, I didn't realize how big this place was," Lauren replied, her lower lip on the edge of a pout. Payson gritted her teeth. This was classic Lauren, prepared to play on their emotions to get her way.

 _"Really hasn't she changed at all? Seriously if she doesn't back down, I'm going to speak up,"_ Payson glowered inwardly. Then she paused as the realization hit her that she had also changed; back in their gym days she would never have considered questioning Lauren's attitude. Sixteen-year old Payson would have said that was just how Lauren behaved and then pushed the potential drama aside to focus on her training. Yes, there had been those months following the kissing video scandal that she had demanded a better Lauren but once Lauren had shown remorse and started to change, Payson had backed off. Heck, the two had become close during the other girl's heart issues. It hadn't taken long for cracks to appear in Lauren's new, reformed view on life. Payson had not picked up on them, her entire perspective thinned to just the upcoming Olympics, but discussions with her mom in the past two years had revealed Lauren's manipulations reappearing even before the team landed in London. Payson sometimes wondered if she had inherited Kim's awareness of others if Lauren would have been able to continue fooling her even up to the last year.

"Dinner is at the Earl of Sandwich," Kaylie spoke up, taking the initiative to stand up to Lauren. "It gives us a nice variety of options but something solid, not just junk food. Plus as long as there aren't any local deals going on, we shouldn't have to wait really long to eat."

Lauren pursed her lips but Jordan and Kaylie were not going to continue to persuade their former teammate to agree with them. The two young women just turned and headed to the left.

"I love sandwiches," Austin said grinning as he followed his girlfriend.

With a barely-there shrug, Emily also started after the two leaders. Payson glanced over at Luke. His eyes were only a little wider than normal but it was enough for her to take pity on him. Her formative years had been spent navigating not only Lauren's drama but the politics of the gym and the mind games of her competition. This temper tantrum/power struggle from the beam queen was minor compared to the bigger battles Payson had faced. However, for Luke, being a stranger to most of the group, it made for a very awkward moment.

"Come on," she said walking over to Luke and digging inward for a different strength than she had called upon during her competition years. Maintaining a grip on the bars when she misjudged the speed of a swing up into a pirouette had pushed her physically. Now reaching out and casually taking Luke's hand to lead him towards dinner was pushing her emotionally. Payson took a deep breath and then just slid her fingers around his.

Luke's eyes widened again but then they crinkled, his smile glowing in his eyes.

"Let's get dinner," Payson said, grateful to hear calmness in her voice rather than the nervous shaking she felt.

"Sounds good," Luke agreed, giving her hand a quick squeeze.

Payson just smiled back, definitely not trusting her voice this time as she started off after the others, her attention mainly on the hand holding hers, not even worrying if Lauren had decided to follow or not.


	13. All In Moderation

_Author's note: I realize that Lauren's current career choice might seem a little confusing in this chapter but hang with me. An explanation is coming as I work through the story :)_

Payson would have expected to be more distracted by her hand in Luke's. After all, her stomach had done several nervous flip-flops when she had looked at him throughout the day already. However, as they continued through the Landing area, she realized that the touch felt natural, normal even. His hold made her feel warm but in a secure, content way rather than worrying about if he was also enjoying it or if Luke felt it was awkward. Happy with the simpleness of the hand-holding, Payson found herself easily observing the details Disney and its chosen retailers had put into their entertainment complex.

A paddleboat restaurant still in construction or perhaps renovation stages bordered the waterfront. A looming T-rex either enticed or intimidated potential customers at a restaurant that also sported a Build-a-Dino option, the lovable Build-a-Bear dynasty taking advantage of a unique option. The Lego store represented with a geometric sea monster rising out of the water as the group crossed a bridge into the Marketplace. Across the water to her left, Payson could make out the buildings of Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort, and to her right…

"Oh, that smells good!" she exclaimed as a mix of sweet and savory sweets wafted her way from a neutral-colored kiosk-style building.

"AristoCrepes," Luke read the golden, swirly letters as Payson leaned closer to catch glimpses of the French delights.

"Crepes are wonderful," she murmured, memories of the one she had allowed herself during a competition in Paris years ago coming to mind.

Luke chuckled and tugged on her hand, "I agree. However," and here he leaned in close to speak quietly in her ear, "while I think your friends like you more than Lauren, I don't think they like you enough to wait for you instead of getting dinner."

Payson smiled at his joke although she shot a troubled glance over her shoulder where Lauren stalked about ten feet behind them. Oh, the blonde was laughing with Jake over some joke but Payson could tell by her stride that Lauren was still angry.

"I don't know what set her off," Payson muttered.

"What?" Luke leaned in again to try to catch her words.

Payson shook her head, "Nothing. Just thinking out loud." The group turned right, moving away from the verdant lushness of the Rainforest Café. They passed a few more smaller shops and then to her left, just past a tea and spice shop, Payson spotted their dinner destination.

"You are hungry!" Luke laughed as her stomach rumbled.

"Aren't we all?" Emily asked, turning around, her eyes glowing at the sight of Luke and Payson's still-entwined hands.

"Apparently I'm the only one whose stomach is making a big fuss," Payson said, her cheeks reddening. Luke reached over with his free hand to gently brush her pink cheek.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about," he grinned. "I've certainly heard your stomach growl before."

Payson groaned as Emily and the others who had also tuned in to the conversation laughed.

"Sounds like another fun Payson story?" Emily prodded.

"Physical therapy can have really busy days," Luke replied. "Some days it was two or three in the afternoon before she would remember to eat lunch and that was usually just because her stomach was complaining."

"You haven't changed, Pay," Kaylie pointed out. "Just as focused as you were back in training."

Payson smiled ruefully, glad the attention quickly transitioned from her to opening the door to enter the Earl of Sandwich. Luke dropped his hand from hers to hold the door.

"Thank you," she whispered as she passed him, her eyes catching his long enough for Luke to realize she wasn't just grateful for the door.

"Didn't think you were in the mood to deal with the questions your friends would have if I mentioned the loudest time I heard your stomach growl was when it was just the two of us out for dinner," Luke winked.

"Oh you've picked up on that, have you?" she asked. "How this group likes to be in the know?"

"In the know about what?" Lauren spoke up and Payson hid a grimace. Of course this would be when the blonde would fully catch up to the group.

"Our lives," Payson replied, hoping that being truthful but vague would keep Lauren from pursuing that line of conversation.

And it did. Well, that and the menu that the men along with Jordan immediately started discussing. Payson scanned the list of sandwiches, not even bothering to look at the salads unlike Lauren who was loudly discussing dinner choices with Jake.

"Babe, I have to pick carefully what I'm going to eat," she was saying. "Amusement park food for the next few days is going to wreak havoc on my body."

"Lo, you don't have to worry about a few pounds," Jake said, putting his arms around her shoulders and trying to plant a kiss on the side of her forehead. Lauren just pulled away and glared.

"I'm not worried about a few pounds," she snapped. "I just want to keep my body healthy!"

"Lo?" Kaylie asked, the nickname hesitant.

The blonde huffed and then exhaled, "Kay, you of all people should understand why I want to be careful with my food choices."

Kaylie nodded slowly, a gentle smile on her face although Payson thought she noticed a strain in the dark-haired woman's eyes. "It is. All in moderation right?"

"That's what I was thinking!" Jake chimed in, putting his arm around his girlfriend again. This time she didn't pull away but allowed him to pull her into a hug.

"Sorry," she muttered to him, her volume just high enough for Payson and maybe Luke to hear from their closer proximity. Jake held her for a few long seconds while the rest of the group stared, Lauren's frustration momentarily trumping their hunger needs.

When the blonde turned back to them, Payson thought she saw a sliver of a tear in one eye, but Lauren looked over to Kaylie.

"You'll understand this best too," she said quietly. "I have a big show coming up in two months and my agent just came to me last week with the suggestion that I take a more serious approach to my fitness before then. She reminded me that part of my success comes from the fact that I already had a following as a medal-winning gymnast from the Olympics"

Kaylie's eyes flashed. "And your agent wants you to look like you did when you were a competitive gymnast? Before we grew up?"

"Well, she didn't come right out and say it like that."

Kaylie shook her head, "She should know better. Lauren, you're perfect just how you are. I hope you're planning to have a talk with your agent about her attitude. Let me know if you need any help in figuring out what to say."

Lauren blinked, looking very surprised at Kaylie's offer as the Latina reached over to wrap her in a hug. Payson thought that a bit strange. Just as Jordan had parlayed her fame into a platform to speak out against abuse, Kaylie had become a prominent face in the fight against the insidious grasp of eating disorders. As Lauren and Kaylie had stayed friends, why would Lauren be surprised at Kaylie's helpful gesture?

However, another rumble from Payson's stomach distracts her from ruminating on Lauren's odd reaction. Luke grinned and Payson felt the blush rising again.

"I think you need to order your dinner," he teased. "Besides these two are so busy hugging it out, I'd bet you could slide up to the counter without any complaints of cutting."

"I heard that," Kaylie said, pulling out of Lauren's embrace and raising an eyebrow. "Payson, you need to teach your friend that we hear everything we're not supposed to."

"I'd think I'd rather eat," she muttered as Austin laughed at Luke's startled expression.

"Don't worry, Luke, you'll get used to them," he reassured his cousin.

"Uh huh," Luke replied as Kaylie flashed a smile and slipped by him to return to her spot next to Austin.

Payson didn't mind the extra person in front of her; she still was not sure of what she wanted to order. Sandwich or wrap? And then which one of the chicken-based options? She bit her lip as Kaylie and Austin moved up to the next available cashier.

"You can go ahead of me," she offered Luke. He glanced at her and then grinned knowingly.

"Which ones are you debating?"

She shook her head, "How do you do that?"

"Biting your lip is a tell."

"Right," she sighed. He reached over and gently rubbed her shoulder.

"Not a bad one. Besides, now I can help."

"Help me choose?"

"Yep."

Payson shook her head. "The last time I let you order for me, you picked something so spicy off the menu, I couldn't even eat half of it."

His laugh was a low rumble that from the corner of her eyes, Payson noticed caught Lauren's attention as well. However, Luke nudges her forward. "Well, you don't have to worry about me picking something spicy for you. Time's up."

"I told you to go first!" she hissed, nearly dragging her feet to avoid being propelled forward but not wanting to appear like an obstinate five-year old.

"And I will."

"Then why am I going up to the cashier now?"

"Because I'm paying for you."


	14. More Opportunities

_As always, MIOBI characters are not mine._

Payson felt her cheeks flame again as her mouth dropped open. Not only was Luke's attitude throwing her off but now she was in front of the cashier without a final decision on what she was going to eat.

Concern creased Luke's face. "Hey, do you really need more time? We can let Lauren and Jake go ahead of us."

Payson closed her mouth as she recognized his sincerity. "No, just order slowly."

He grinned and turned to the cashier as she scanned the list one more time. Actually not having a lot of time to debate made it easier to decide. She just had to go with instinct, much like the moves in a gymnastics routine. Overthinking a tumbling pass was a sure way to stumble and dwelling on the correct placement of an arm only stifled the poetic, lyrical beauty of a floor routine set to Tchaikovsy's music.

"Can you hold the chipotle sauce on the chicken avocado sandwich?" she asked and at the cashier's nod, she continued. "Then I'll take that please and a water."

Orders placed, Payson and Luke navigated their way over to where Emily had found space for the whole group. Small talk about their food choices kept the conversation going especially when Kaylie discovered that Luke did not like avocados.

Eyes wide, Kaylie glanced between Luke and Austin before settling her gaze back on Luke. "Payson's not joking? You really can't stand avocados?"

"Nope," he replied slowly, looking fairly confused by the dark-haired girl's surprise.

"Are you really Austin's cousin?"

"Yes." Another slowly-drawn out reply, this time accompanied by a glance towards Payson for help in figuring out Kaylie's reaction. Payson just smirked.

"It's just, I swear Austin eats avocados everyday," Kaylie explained. "I'm half surprised he didn't get your choice for dinner, Pay."

"Roasted beef sounded too good to pass up," Austin grinned. "Swiss and American cheese plus turkey? Nope, that trumps avocado."

"Anything trumps avocado," Luke mumbled.

"Anything?" Jordan raised an eyebrow.

"Well, not sushi," Luke replied. "The raw fish type."

"Sushi tastes really good," Lauren added her opinion to the conversation.

Luke shrugged. "The taste isn't bad. I just can't handle the texture. Same reason I don't like avocado."

"The texture?"

"Yep," Luke replied, not elaborating in his answer to the blonde. In fact he then changed the subject, turning it back onto Lauren. "So what show do you have coming up?"

Lauren smiled widely. "My fashion line is being introduced at a fashion show in New Orleans."

"A fashion line?" Jordan asked.

"I thought you were in physical therapy?" Luke asked. Payson schooled her face to neutral as Lauren looked over to her. Of course the woman would guess the source of Luke's information about her. Payson just focused on looking calm. She had no reason to feel guilty as she had not actually told Luke that Lauren was the one that had sabotaged her first attempt at an internship, but years of dealing with Lauren's emotional outbursts had her on edge.

Lauren stared at Payson for a second longer and then flicked her eyes back to Luke. With a professional smile, she answered. "I was majoring in physical therapy even had a really great internship."

Payson balled her hands up, but then released the tightness with an exhale. Lauren had thrown a pointed barb at her but she did not have to let that affect her mood.

"But I had also been playing around with clothing design on the side. Last fall I made a few good connections that allowed for some things to fall into place that led to my line getting picked up for this show."

"Connections? Of your own?" Jordan asked. The question and her expression certainly seemed innocent but Payson noticed a glint in the woman's deep brown eyes. Jordan and Lauren had never been close friends, and it appeared that Jordan was not about to give Lauren an easy pass.

Lauren's smile took on a brittle edge. "My daddy did not buy my way into the show in New Orleans if that's what you're hinting towards, Jordan."

Jordan's return smile was equally stiff. "Well, I didn't think you would overlook any valuable connections to promote your work."

"Being an Olympic medalist has given all of us more opportunities than we could have imagined when we were in elementary school," Kaylie said quickly to smooth over the rapidly-fracturing conversation.

"All of us?" Emily whispered from next to Payson. Payson glanced at her friend but Emily was looking down at her food, the comment not meant for anyone else's ears.

"Exactly," Lauren beamed at her friend. "So when that opportunity came up, I decided to take this past spring semester off from school to pursue the fashion line and see where it goes."

"You haven't been in school this semester?" That got Emily paying attention to the conversation again.

"No," Lauren replied, her tone casual. "Physical therapy is a demanding major with all of its science credits. There is no way I would have been able to keep up with it and give the necessary focus to preparing my line for the show."

"But that's your education," Emily protested.

"It's only one semester off," Jake offered before biting into his sandwich.

"I'm probably going back to school in the fall," Lauren said. Jake swallowed quickly.

"Probably? I thought you said this was a one semester break?"

"Babe, I need to see what happens with the show. If it goes really well-"

"Then you switch majors to fashion is what you said," Jake replied, putting his sandwich down.

Lauren opened and then shut her mouth.

 _"Interesting,"_ Payson thought to herself. _"She's been caught in a possible lie by someone important to her. She doesn't want to keep lying but isn't sure how to save face."_

"I guess it's good to consider your options," Kaylie broke the awkward silence. "So Lauren, how about you tell us some more about the type of clothing in your fashion line?"

Payson was not especially concerned about Lauren's idea of fashion, but she had to admit that listening to the petite blonde describe her designs was preferable to the tension that floated when the group was quiet. Clearly there were more issues than her distrust of Lauren.


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own any of the characters from Make It or Break It.

Thankfully dinner moved on smoothly after its disjointed start with most of the table either discovering a long-hidden love of fashion or at least doing a fantastic job of feigning significant interest. Payson said little, only caring that the group was no longer barreling towards an argument. She smiled in relief when Kaylie glanced at her phone and reported that Kelly and Nicky had just landed at the airport, the announcement effectively breaking up the meal.

"We're going to need to head back to the resort to meet up with them," Kaylie said, glancing at Austin who nodded in agreement.

"Kelly and Nicky know how to catch the Magical Express get to Old Key West?" Lauren asked.

Austin replied, "Kelly's the one that told me about the Magical Express."

"Kelly did?" Payson couldn't stop the question. Somehow she could not see the most cynical former member of the national team being an expert in things Disney.

"Remember how she got into running after not making the national team?" Kaylie picked up the narrative.

Payson nodded. Kelly had already run her first 5K by the time the national team had flown to London.

 _"So how did the race go?" Payson had texted the morning of the 5K._

 _"Pretty well." Kelly had replied, her response casual but accompanied by a huge smiley icon._

 _Payson had grinned and texted back, "Ok, how many people did you beat?"_

 _"All the girls in my age group!" The excited comment had been followed by a picture of the age-group medal._

 _There had been a few more such texts, even one after the team had returned from London. However, Kelly had then stopped talking to the other girls about her growing running success despite Payson's prodding to hear more. By late spring Kelly had stopped talking to them about anything._

"Well, some of her running buddies talked her into running one of the Disney half-marathons," Kaylie's voice cut into Payon's memories.

"Disney has races?" Lauren interrupted.

"Quite a few," Kaylie nodded. "She did the Princess one."

Payson sputtered her last swallow of water back into her cup, and Luke tapped her on the back.

"You good there?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Kelly ran in a princess race?"

"In a pink, glittery tutu. The pictures were on her Twitter feed last year, Pay," Kaylie replied, her look saying that she had no sympathy for Payson if the blonde couldn't bother to keep up with social media. Payson took comfort in the fact that Emily and Jordan also looked a bit shocked. Sure, Kelly had softened towards the end of her competitive career, but she had never been one for frills and frivolity.

"Anyway," Austin continued. "Her friends set up the race weekend even picked sparkly tutus to run in. Everyone staying on-site meant they could avoid using a rental car by reserving seats on the Magical Express."

"So when you started planning this trip, she brought it up?" Emily asked, getting over the surprise sooner than Payson who was still trying to reconcile the Kelly she knew with a smiling runner in a sparkly tutu and maybe even a tiara.

"You could've asked me," Luke said to his cousin. "We've used the Magical Express before."

"Kelly brought it up," Austin replied, looking slightly pained that Luke was putting him on the spot.

"And it worked really well," Kaylie said. "However, we have to hope it doesn't work too fast or else, they will beat us back to the resort. Disney transportation makes it nice to not worry about driving but it's not always fast."

"Are we all heading back?" Lauren asked.

"Only if you want to. Personally, I'd stick around here for a little bit and check out what else Disney Springs has to offer."

"You don't think Kelly will mind?" Payson finally found her voice again.

Kaylie shook her head. "She kind of hinted that she'd rather meet us in small groups. Something about too much drama if all the Rock Rebels are involved at once."

Payson grinned even as Jordan's face took on a mix of confusion and indignation. She had wondered how much Kelly had changed since they had last heard from her but this sounded like the Kelly she remembered.

"Well, I'd like to hang here a bit longer then," Emily said, speaking Payson's thoughts. The rest of the group agreed although after Kaylie and Austin headed out, Lauren and Jake also separated from the group for some couple time.

The remaining four stood just outside of the Earl of Sandwich and stared at each other.

"So," Jordan broke the silence. "What do you guys want to do?"

"I have no idea," Payson admitted.

Emily turned to Luke, "You're familiar with Disney. What should we do?"

Luke replied, "Disney Springs is actually pretty new, a huge renovation of Downtown Disney. Some things looked familiar from the last time I was here three years ago but a lot has changed. I'm good with just wandering around and seeing what looks interesting."

Jordan raised both eyebrows. "Did you think before speaking?"

"What?"

"Three females in the middle of a prime shopping area," Jordan pointed out. "You may have just set yourself up for an evening of looking at price tags and waiting outside of dressing rooms."

Luke smirked, "No, I didn't."

"No?"

"Look, I may not know you and Emily personally, but I do know Payson, and she's not going to spend several hours trying on clothes," Luke explained. "Then from how you and Emily have talked this afternoon, I figure you'll be more interested in something like searching for Hidden Mickeys rather than hunting down deals on designer items."

Jordan eyed Luke for a long moment and then grinned as she turned to Payson. "You've got yourself a smart one here, good job!"

Payson felt the red begin to creep onto her face but Jordan twisted back to Luke before she could protest that she didn't have Luke.

"You mentioned Hidden Mickeys. What's that?" Jordan asked. "It's Disney World. Why is Mickey hiding?"

Payson smiled, knowing the answer to this question. "There are places in Disney World where Mickey appears as an obvious part of the décor. However, there are other spots where you wouldn't expect Mickey to be, where he doesn't really fit in with the theme."

"So there are little painted Mickey Mice?"

"Not exactly," Luke explained. "Usually it's just the silhouette of his head."

"Are they hard to find?"

"Depends," Luke replied. "Luckily, I've already spotted one."

"Really? Where?" Jordan was instantly interested, her eyes already sweeping the area.

"You can see it from here."

Emily started turning slowly while Payson fixed her gaze on Luke. He was watching Jordan's hunt but then glanced over at her. She immediately dropped her eyes, embarrassed at being caught—and spotted the hidden Mickey.

"Are you sure this one is meant to be hidden and not just part of the decorating scheme?" she asked.

"Of course, it's hidden!" Jordan replied. "I can't see it!"

"Me either," chimed in Emily.

Payson waved towards the ground and both women looked in that direction.

"Oh," Jordan replied at the sight of a concrete Mickey head embedded in the sidewalk. "Ok, I guess that is kind of obvious after all."

Emily laughed. "I'm sure there're others to find. Want to look?"

Over the next two hours, the Hidden Mickey hunt found the group wandering in and out stores although not visiting any dressing rooms. They had fun posing near the Lego sculptures at the Lego store. Emily talked them into an I-Spy game at the World of Disney and its many cartoon characters. They indulged in the chocolatey treats offered at Ghiradelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop where after a brief debate the group decided to order the Ocean Beach Sea Salt Caramel Sundae and the Treasure Island Warm Brownie Sundae and just split the two desserts up among all four of them.

Throughout the evening, Payson caught herself glancing towards Luke more often than at her former training partners. However, after meeting gazes for the third time, she also realized Luke was watching her almost as much as he was looking for the camouflaged silhouettes of Disney's most-famous character. The evening was a chance to reconnect, and she had a feeling both of them were trying to figure out how much of their previous connection had survived these last few months of broken communication.


	16. Haven't Done Your Best Yet

AN: I do not own any part of MIOBI.

She woke up before her alarm. Not a surprise considering all those of predawn gym workouts. It wasn't that she always woke up at an unreasonable hour, but Payson suspected that her body would only allow her to ever sleep past seven if she was sick.

 _"Or hung over,"_ she reflected, remembering that one horrible night freshman year of college. The press may have labeled her a "Rebel" but she really had little interest in most things that were considered rebellious.]

Hearing a light snore from Emily, Payson rolled slowly away from her still-sleeping bedmate—and immediately jumped. Kelly Parker was lying facing her, eyes wide open. Payson's knee-jerk action resulted in her leg kicking Emily.

"Hmm, Pay?" The other woman murmured. "What's up?"

"It's fine, go back to sleep," Payson whispered soothingly, aware that the young mother was primed to wake up easily. Payson practically held her breath until Emily's breathing returned to the quiet snore.

She then looked back over to Kelly and glared. The petite girl just smirked as she slid out of bed, leaving Jordan sound asleep next to her.

"Geez, Pay, didn't think you'd be so jumpy," she whispered as she passed the bed.

"You were staring like some possessed person out of horror movie!" Payson hissed back, slowly swinging her legs down and getting up.

Kelly shrugged. "I could tell you were about to wake up and just wondered how long you would take. Unlike our competition days, I wasn't trying to psych you out."

"Thanks," Payson replied dryly. Kelly just smirked and trotted to the bathroom. Payson shook her head but grinned. Her group had been the last set to return to the resort the night before. Everyone had gathered out in the living area a brief rundown from Kaylie and Austin on the plan for the next day. Kelly had said very little; Payson could not remember if Nicky had opened his mouth once. She had hoped their taciturnity had been due to exhaustion. Kelly may have hard sharp edges for most of her competitive career but her fire was part of her identity, and Payson's stomach sunk at the thought of an adult Kelly without a spark.

However, their exchange just now relieved that worry. Kelly certainly had to have changed in the last several years but that fire still burned. Payson rolled her shoulders a few times and then stood. She wanted to get a short run in this morning before they all headed into the parks so she had left her running gear laying out on top of her suitcase. The other girls were sound asleep so she changed quickly before slipping out of the bedroom.

"Morning!" Luke greeted her in a loud whisper as she reached the lower level of their accommodations and Payson found herself jumping again.

"What is with everyone surprising me today?" she muttered to herself. However, as she realized what Luke was wearing, her complaint died.

He grinned as he finished tying the laces on his running shoes. "I'm a social runner, like company unless I'm doing a hard run. Figured someone in this group would be up early for a workout. I was just about to give up though when you came down the stairs."

Payson ignored the drop in her stomach at his words. For a moment she had thought he was waiting on her somehow not just a generic running buddy. "I'm not putting in a lot of miles."

"It'll just feel good to stretch my legs," he replied. "Besides if I remember right we have similar running speeds."

She nodded. "Ok then, you have a key?"

"Got it," Luke replied and held open the door for her. They made an easy loop to the back of the parking lot, their sneakered feet landing softly as they ran past the 12 and 11 buildings. A path off the parking lot lead them alongside the sports courts where a round of tennis was already underway.

"Too much thinking this early," Luke said with a quick jerk of his thumb towards the couple.

"Tennis?"

"Yep, running is easy. One foot and then the next. Tennis requires too much with reflexes and anticipating the next move."

Payson laughed, "How in the world were you an elite gymnast if you can't handle quick reflexes early in the morning?"

"Oh, back then was different," Luke replied, his voice casual. "I was trained for that. Plus gymnastics is individual. I'm in control of what I need to do. Tennis requires adapting to what someone else is doing. So much of gymnastics was working on perfecting specific moves, you know?"

As they jogged past the Sandcastle Swimming Pool area, Payson let Luke's words play in her head. "You're right that we did the same movements over and over, but we still had to pay attention to what we were doing."

"Always," he agreed, "but it was predictable, different type of thinking than needing to anticipate multiple possible responses like when you're playing tennis against an opponent."

Warmed up, Payson decided to stretch her legs and speed up the pace a little. Luke matched the increase easily. From the corner of her eye, Payson caught a glimpse of a grin on Luke's face. As they followed the curve of Peninsular Road over the waterway and towards more of the three-story buildings, Payson let her mind drift back to other runs with significant men in her life. She and Rigo had worked out together more than once but she had always let him dictate the pace. Not because she thought her first real boyfriend needed to be in charge but because she had not really been sure of how strong he was cardio-wise. She had also gone on multiple training runs with Sasha. Her relationship with Sasha had been a complicated one. He had meant more to her than just a coach; at some point during her recovery she had fallen into a deep crush for Sasha. While her rational, logical side had always known that she would never date Sasha, her emotional side had still wanted to prove herself to him. In the gym she had pushed herself because she wanted to be a gold-medal winning gymnast. On training runs outside of the gym though, she had pushed to try to catch Sasha's eye, to show that she was equal to him. If he sped up, she would too and then try to go even faster. She had always enjoyed the runs but there was never this calmness that she felt when running with Luke. The pounding of her heart evidenced that their pace was not slow as they ran past parked cars and a bus stop, but there was not a frenetic feel to it like she remembered from those runs with Sasha. Relaxing was not a fit adjective at this speed but really Payson could not come up with a better description. She wasn't worrying about how she was appearing to Luke; she was just enjoying the run.

After another mile she felt Luke pull back on their pace and she slowed to match.

"We probably should be getting back," he explained. "Don't want to mess up our arrival to the parks."

"Kaylie seems to be a bit particular about a time schedule," Payson replied.

Luke grinned, "Well, one of the best ways to experience the major attractions without horrible lines is to get there early. You've been here before right?"

"We had VIP treatment," Payson replied sheepishly.

Luke shook his head with a mock glare. "You Olympians, thinking you're something special."

"We are," she sassed back. "Didn't you know that?"

"Of course," he replied with a chuckle, but then about twenty seconds later, he continued, "but seriously, you are. You are something special. I'm amazed when I watch the videos of what you, Austin, the other girls were able to do."

Payson jogged for a bit before voicing a fear that had surfaced on and off since the Olympics. "What is that's it though? What if that's the best I ever do?"

Luke did not reply for the minute it took for them to finish their cool-down. Payson decided he was not going to answer and headed up the walk towards their housing.

"Wait," Luke snagged her arm. "You haven't done your best yet, Payson."

"How do you know?"

"Because even without the Olympic medals, you're something special." His eyes held hers for several long seconds and then Luke let go of her arm to reach for the room key.

 _"Don't think too deeply about his words,"_ Payson told herself even as a pleasant warmth tingled inside.

"Finally! You're back!" Kaylie's relieved squeal made it easy not to get caught up in dwelling on Luke's final sentence.

"Kay, they have fifteen minutes still," Austin's voice came from the kitchen area.

"Lauren, you're going to need to finish your make-up somewhere else!" Kaylie demanded before turning her attention back to Payson and Luke. "Ok, the bathrooms are free. Go get your showers so we can head into the parks!"


	17. We're Rabbits?

"This is a lot of people," Lauren observed from underneath the brim of her American Eagle baseball cap.

Payson glanced around. The group had made it onto a bus to Hollywood Studios and arrived at the turnstiles prior to opening as planned by Kaylie. However, so had what appeared to be hundreds of other guests.

"It wasn't this crowded when we came after the Olym—the last time we were here," Lauren glared at Kaylie as she changed her words thanks to an elbow from her former teammate. "Don't you think you're being a bit paranoid about us being recognized?"

"Lo," Kaylie hissed back. "How many of are Olympians? We've all had public ad campaigns. Not to mention Jordan is a TV star."

"Well, some of us are just regular everyday folk," Luke pointed out.

"I think we're the only two in the group," Emily said.

"You're a former National team member, Em," Kaylie protested.

Emily lowered her voice, "But not an Olympian. No one is going to notice me but I still think wearing a hat is a good idea with the Florida sun."

"Agreed," Kelly jumped in.

"You weren't an Olympian," Lauren had to point out. Payson gritted her teeth to stop herself from saying something.

Kelly smiled, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Just a World champion, so not as recognizable as you perhaps. Cutting off my devil horns certainly helps me stay incognito too."

Payson smirked, careful to not let Lauren see her reaction but Kelly grinned widely as they made eye contact. The woman was right; her layered pixie cut certainly was a far different look from the two buns on top of her head that had been her signature look. Payson still sported the long, blonde ponytail from her competition days so she had understood Kaylie's point that they needed to dress casually and wear baseball caps to slightly hide their faces.

Lauren had been less than pleased with Kaylie's plan and even now appeared ready to protest again, but luckily the crowd beginning to move forward distracted her. The crowd edged up to the turnstiles, but the actual act of entering was quick thanks to their wristbands. Just one swipe and they were in.

"Why are we stopping again?" Jordan wondered out loud.

Austin pointed although the petite gymnasts could not see over the taller people in front of them. Kaylie gave her boyfriend a look.

"Right," he said and then explained. "They have a rope up since the park hasn't officially opened yet."

"Then why let us in at all?" Lauren huffed.

"To help with crowd control," Luke replied. Thankful for the shield provided by her sunglasses, Payson allowed herself to take in how good he looked as he continued to talk. "This cuts down on the entrance line somewhat and also makes those guests who were here the earliest happier since they have a head-start so to speak over later arrivals. It also helps to spread the crowd out a bit."

Lauren still did not look pleased but music burst from the park's speakers. A short introduction to Hollywood Studios followed and then as the cast members dropped the rope, their group followed the surge down the main thoroughfare.

A street turned off to their right and some of the crowd veered that direction. Payson 's eyes picked up tunes from an older era, perhaps the 1930's. She slowed to get a better look, but Emily grasped her hand.

"You don't want to get left behind, Pay!"

They continued forward, the red façade of a replica Mann's Chinese Theater rising before them. Payson remembered hearing that one of the park's iconic rides was situated inside the structure, but Luke led the group to the right—the same direction as most of the crowd.

They were now on a street that had more of working Hollywood feel; buildings were even labeled as soundstages. Payson caught the briefest glimpse of a sign mentioning the Little Mermaid. She had a few more seconds to read the title of Walt Disney: One Man's Dream before Luke was herding everyone into another building on the right.

"Toy Story Mania," Emily identified the attraction.

"Don't we have FastPasses for this?" Jordan asked, glancing down at her purple wristband that held their electronic information.

"Yeah but you're going to want to do this ride more than once," Luke grinned.

"Didn't you go on this ride when you were here before?" Kelly asked.

Payson pulled her attention away from the ceiling where the squares of board games such as Chutes and Ladders and Checkers decorated the space. "We didn't make it to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom."

"Doesn't sound like much of a vacation after all of the hard work of the Oly-competition," Kelly adjusted her words at a sharp look from Kaylie. She twisted back to Payson and lowered her voice even more. "Does she really think anyone is paying attention to us when there is an oversized Mr. Potato Head telling jokes?"

Payson giggled as the line weaved past the large Animatronic. Later in the day his chatter would certainly be entertaining but this early they were able to keep moving on by. The queue finally slowed just as the group grabbed their 3D glasses.

"We're not too far from the loading station," Luke promised. They had a flight of steps to navigate but then they were about to step onto the loading platform. Payson and the others knew there were too many of them to go in one whole group, so with a little guidance from their "expert" as Jordan called Luke, they broke up into two sets of four with Luke and Jordan being the extra pair.

"This means we get to load first!" Jordan said with a big grin at Luke.

Payson and Emily stepped into the next car; Kelly and Nicky would be their other pair.

"Don't forget those glasses, Keeler!" Kelly called out as she slid into her car. Payson grinned as she shoved the glasses on.

"Keep track of your high scores," Lauren said, her tone a bit demanding. "We need to know who plays the best!"

 _"Always a competitor, Lauren?"_ Payson wondered silently.

"Selfie," Emily said, holding the phone out. They both grinned, the action pushing aside Payson's annoyed thoughts about Lauren, and then Emily quickly stowed her phone as the brightly-colored car spun away from the loading platform.

"Practice Time!" Buzz Lightyear and Jessie the Cowgirl appeared in front of them with targets. Payson pulled the string on her green shooter back and released but her pie fell a little bit short. Emily's on the other hand was a direct hit.

"Got it!" She crowed. Her competitive spirit engaged, Payson pulled her string back farther and released another pie. This time she hit the target although not quite center.

"All right!" Payson grinned. She managed to land a few more pies on the target before the practice round ended and then they were spinning off to the actual game, the twist of the car giving them a glimpse of a laughing Kelly and Nicky.

A barnyard scene appeared in front of them as their car settled forward. The cheerful piggy bank Hamm and a toy unicorn that Payson did not immediately recognize encouraged the women in their attempts at lobbing eggs at defenseless farm animals. Payson focused her early efforts on the pigs in the middle row. The porcine creatures were worth the same amount—one hundred points—as the closer ducks but did not have waves interfering with clear targets. She cleared the row of pigs and noticed a cat with a five hundred point value appear. After that egg toss, Payson realized that the gophers lurking on the bottom of the screen also had the higher point value. However, she only managed to egg one before they were off to the next game.

Suddenly Payson and Emily were back in time millions of years at Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts. While a volcano with lava flowing down its side dominated the background, Payson focused on popping the balloons. The orange ones in the lava stream were the easiest but the blue ones on the back of the lumbering Stegosaurus earned more points along with the balloons attached to the other dinosaurs moving around the volcano.

Next up they encountered parachuting Green Army men and the beginning of the ball-throw game. Sarge's voice barked, "I am not your mother—break those plates," and Emily and Payson set out to smash as many of the white plates as they could. As usual the stationary ones near the front had the lowest point value. Payson opted to go after the ones being carried up and down hills by small vehicles. She threw a few balls at the ones being carried through the sky by various aircraft but missed.

"Hey, the plates moving towards us have different values," Emily grunted as she frantically kept pulling on her string. Surprised, Payson looked more closely and saw the numbers change as she shot down one and then another.

"Three, two, one!" The countdown signaled the end of this game but the next one still had green characters. Payson grinned at the sight of the small aliens that had pretty much worshipped Buzz Lightyear in the first Toy Story movie. A large rocket in the center of the screen housed several of the extraterrestrials that popped up and down, and Payson was quick to land several rings over their heads. A small red rocket on the right also offered points; when she ringed the rocket, it took off whirring into space.

The last game was Woody's Rootin' Shootin' Gallery where the goal was to hit as many targets as possible with suction cup darts. Payson did a good job of hitting the circles interspersed among cartoon animals in the Wild West themed scene, but a glance at the scoreboard as they moved to the bonus round showed Emily ahead of her by a few thousand points.

As mine car after mine car headed towards her, Payson rapidly pulled and released the string on her shooter. She was having a blast but if she could beat Emily, her competitive side would be pleased. A huge grin spread across her face as the numbers on the targets increased from 500 to 1000 to 2000.

"Wow, that was fun!" Emily said once their shooters stopped looking.

"I loved it," Payson agreed and then glanced down at the scores. "Hey, look at this."

"Rabbits?" Emily's eyebrows crunched. "We're rabbits?"

"That's the prize level we reached," Payson figured. "But look how close we were to each other."

"Oh, yeah! I only beat you by four hundred points."

"Yep," Payson said. She knew she would have enjoyed winning but there was no disappointment at losing to Emily. Also, a few minutes later, when the group was exiting the ride and sharing scores, Payson could not deny that it felt good to hear that Lauren had only earned the Gopher level, putting her the lowest out of everyone.

 _AN: I think it will be a few weeks before I update again. When I started writing this story, it really was just something to play with and I had no real plan for it. However, as I have been working on it over the last half of a year, I have decided that it might be a good idea to figure out where I want to take it. So the plan is to take some time and outline the rest of the story before writing more._


	18. The Best in Me

Cutting past the restaurants on Commissary Lane, the group headed towards their next ride. Payson could not hold back a grin as the tall trees of Endor came into view.

"Well, that answers that question," Emily said with a small shake of her head. "I really thought you'd be a Trekkie."

Payson just smiled bigger. "Nope. For a five-year old girl, Ewoks were way more adorable than anything Star Trek had to offer."

"Somehow I never imagined you watching movies as a child," Kelly said.

"What do you think I did when I wasn't at the gym?"

"Round-offs," Kelly answered promptly and then gave a cheeky grin. "You were always so focused on the end goal, that gold medal, it's hard to think of you as a carefree kid."

"So you liked Toy Story?" Luke asked Jordan. Walking just behind the pair, Payson overheard the question along with Jordan's enthusiastic response.

"It was so awesome, and you were great to ride with! So much fun!"

"So it looks like Luke and Jordan are getting along well," Lauren suddenly spoke up from Payson's right. It took considerable effort not to jump at the unexpected appearance.

"It's nice to see the group starting to bond," Emily cut in, her eyes narrowing at the former beam specialist.

Lauren just smiled back. "I think it's great that Luke is getting to know Jordan. After all, he doesn't really have many connections in this group right? I mean, yeah, he's related to Austin but that's it. Well, and you worked with him, Pay."

"Right," Payson replied, keeping her answer short and letting a little distance grow between herself and Luke. Something in Lauren's too-casual tone put her on alert. The other woman was fishing, but for what Payson could not guess.

Lauren pushed ahead. "It makes sense that he stuck around you last night. You're the only one of us that he knows well."

"You mean besides Austin and Kaylie?" Emily pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Does he know Kaylie that well?" Lauren turned the questioning on Payson.

She shrugged, "Some, I don't know how well."

"Exactly," Lauren replied. "Anyway, you're the one he felt most comfortable with last night, but now he's starting to get to know the rest of us."

"Right," Payson repeated her earlier short reply.

"So it was nice of you to be so friendly to Luke last night but from my perspective he's fitting in well. He doesn't need you,"

Payson bit her lower lip to keep from giving an emotional response. She wasn't sure how Lauren had done it but the other woman had figured out that Luke meant something to her.

"So becoming friends with someone new means you don't need your old friends anymore?" Kelly asked and then smirked at Lauren. "No wonder Payson doesn't really talk to you. She made new friends and didn't need you anymore."

Lauren bristled, "Like you're that important to Payson yourself. When was the last time you two even talked on the phone?"

"Enough, Lo," Kaylie spoke up from behind the trio.

"This was not just me," Lauren defended, her voice rising high enough to catch Luke and Jordan's attention as well. Jordan looked straight at Lauren, but Luke's eyes connected with Payson's. _"What did Lauren do?"_ Luke didn't need any words to ask his concern. Somehow even without hearing their conversation, he knew what had Payson starting to feel edgy. She gave her head a minimal shake for no. Luke raised an eyebrow, his way of asking if she would tell him later. Another shake no and Payson dropped her eyes, not wanting to risk further probing. She could already feel a slight blush on her cheeks and she had no desire to tell Luke that he had been the focus of Lauren's taunts.

The group walked underneath the towering guns of an AT-AT walker to enter the ride's building. Payson carefully shifted her position to put a little distance between herself and Lauren.

"Um, that's not English," Emily said from next to Payson. She was staring at a large screen that showed the upcoming flights. Once glance at the geometric shapes that more closely resembled Hebrew than their own language and Payson had to agree.

"It's Aurebesh," Luke spoke up, Payson jumping slightly at his voice being so close to her ear. In trying to avoid Lauren, she hadn't realized that Luke and Jordan were now behind her. She was debating if this might be a worse place to stand when Luke reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

He grinned apologetically. "Sorry for catching you off-guard. I should've guessed you weren't totally focused on the ride at the moment." He rubbed her shoulder gently, the touch telling her that even if she didn't want to talk, he wanted to lessen her hurt from whatever it was that Lauren had done.

The line moved forward just then and Luke's hand slid off her shoulder but only down to her forearm. It was minimal contact, but the teasing smirk he sent her proved that he was being intentional in maintaining touch. Grateful that she was not blushing this time, Payson let her own eyes twinkle back at him.

The group continued to move through the waiting area at a decent pace with C-3PO and the luggage droids providing entertainment and even conversation starters.

"So the Jedi had some amazing powers right?" Kelly asked, turning around to Payson.

"Right," Payson agreed as Luke nodded.

"So why did they still need all these droids? Couldn't they have just levitated shipping crates and such?"

"Jedis didn't have unlimited power resources," Luke pointed out. "Even though they could do more with the Force, they would still get tired and only be able to do so much."

"Plus not everyone was a Jedi," Payson replied.

"Hmm," Jordan thought aloud. "I would have loved to have had those Jedi superpowers in the Olympics."

Luke snorted softly and muttered, "I wouldn't quite call their abilities superpowers."

"The way they could flip through the air in the movies," Jordan kept on talking. "I know it's special effects but could you imagine if we could do that?"

"Are you saying a little green dude is a better tumbler than me?" Austin asked as a cast member ushered them to the right and a final set of lines.

"Yoda was very gifted," Jordan joked before turning towards Luke.

"So was I!" Austin protested, only half-joking now. "I only made those tumbling passes look easy!"

Jordan said to Luke, "Austin is telling the truth. You wouldn't believe the amount of energy it takes to pull off those gymnastics moves you see on TV."

Payson waited for Luke to correct Jordan, to point out that as a former top gymnast he certainly understood the power output for tumbling passes. Instead he just gave a shrug and replied, "I bet."

The line nudged them forward then into the final waiting area. Payson only half paid attention to the ride instruction video. She was more focused on getting Luke's attention but none of the others. He, however, was doing a fantastic job of keeping his eyes glued on the screen.

Not seeing any other discreet options, Payson took a deep breath and firmly laid a hand on Luke's arm.

"Later," he murmured.

"Luke-"

"After the ride?" he asked, turning to her. Payson bit her lip and nodded. Luke's eyes held a mix of emotions, hurt and frustration there but also calmness, acceptance.

The doors to their StarSpeeder 1000 opened, and they filed in. Payson buckled her seatbelt, Luke and Emily doing the same on each side of her. She grinned at Emily as they heard C-3PO grumbling about being stuck in the cockpit as the flight begins. However, the sudden appearance of an Imperial probe pulled her attention to the front. From here it was one event to another: Han Solo appearing and firing his way up onto the Millennium Falcon, their own StarSpeeder shooting down a few Imperial fighters and damaging the bridge of a Star Destroyer before jumping away in lightspeed—much to C-3PO's frustration. A near-crash landing on icy Hoth pitted them in the middle of another battle. An AT-AT fired at them, and their wounded StarSpeeder went for a roller coaster ride through a canyon. Payson caught her breath as they fell farther and farther, R2-D2 just managing to restart their engines at the last moment. The action paused while a hologram of Yoda appeared and announced that there was indeed a Rebel spy aboard their craft.

"You know, sometimes I wonder how R2-D2 and C-3PO are friends," Luke muttered, learning towards Payson as R2-D2 immediately accepted the challenge of delivering the spy to the rebel base.

"Oh?"

"R2 is a risk tasker, just kind of does what he feels like while Threepio is very practical, very protocal-oriented."

"But they're friends," Payson agreed just as their StarSpeeder jumped into another battle, this time between Naboo's forces and those of the Trade Federation. Once again their ship rocked as it was hit, this time with a blast from a vulture droid. Despite R2's efforts, the StarSpeeder plowed down into the watery depths of Naboo near the Gungan city and nearly crashed into Jar Jar Binks.

"Shame," Luke said softly, leaning close to Payson. She glanced away from the Gungans commanding their ship to follow a guide through Naboo's core to raise an eyebrow at Luke.

"I never liked Jar Jar much," he explained. "I wouldn't have minded seeing him out of commission."

Payson smacked Luke's shoulder, a little tingle running through her at the sudden contact, but any retaliation from him was halted as giant sea creatures decided the two crafts looked like dinner. A well-aimed electric shock from R2 headed off their enormous attacker. Bouncing up and across the surface of the water, their ship landed in a hangar but not cleanly—they broke the tail of a Starfighter. The pit droid working on the ship chirruping angrily at them before throwing paint at their StarSpeeder and storming away.

C-3PO took charge of good-byes as they unbuckled and headed out, the exit landing them in the Tatooine Traders gift shop. While the others perused the stuffed animals and light sabers, Payson caught Luke's eyes. He smiled wryly.

"It is after, isn't it?"

Payson nodded. "Why didn't you tell Jordan that you were an elite athlete too?"

Luke sighed. "I loved gymnastics when I was competing, and I'm proud of what I achieved up to the injury. But when I'm around all of you, world and Olympic champions, what I did doesn't seem worth mentioning."

Payson narrowed her eyes, fire sparking within. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't you dare sell yourself short, Luke," she replied fiercely. "You were a very successful gymnast, and now you are amazing at your job. Your achievements are every bit as important as what we accomplished, more even because you are changing lives. It's part of what I like so much about you, how you want to help others."

Luke just stared at her for a long minute. Payson realized she was holding her breath and suddenly felt very uncertain of herself. She wasn't sure if Luke would take her words that way but she had just admitted that she still had feelings for him.

"Thanks," he finally said, and she had to force herself to keep a positive look on her face even as she felt the thump of disappointment in her stomach at his simple response. She turned to walk towards the exit of the shop, but a strong pair of arms grabbed her.

"I like how you always make me look at the best in me," Luke murmured, holding Payson in a tight hug. She reached her hands up to clasp around his arms as they stood there for a long minute.


	19. Cute When You Blush

The memory of Luke's tight hug in the gift shop stayed with Payson throughout the morning as they continued to tour Hollywood Studios although not in an obsessive-constantly-thinking-about-it way. More just as a happy thought that she could touch on if she wanted. Not something to distract her from the fun they were about to experience but another reason for the smile that played around the edges of her mouth despite Lauren's occasional snide remark.

"That's a lot of carbs, isn't it?" the former beamer said as Payson sat down with her tray at a quick stop at Starring Rolls for breakfast.

"Not really," Payson smiled back and took a bite of the chocolate croissant. She still focused on healthy eating habits but she no longer felt guilty when indulging especially on vacation.

After their breakfast stop the group hurried over to Sunset Boulevard.

"This is awesome!" Kaylie grinned over at Austin as the era between the world wars washed over them. Music from the 1930's played as they made their way past storefronts that harkened back to the Golden Age of Hollywood.

"A lot of these buildings are designed after specific landmarks from California," Luke tells his cousin's enthusiastic girlfriend.

Kaylie's face shone even brighter. "Really?"

Luke nodded and pointed over to a light building with a pink tone to it. "This gift shop is modeled after the Carthay Circle Theater where "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" premiered."

"Wow!"

Luke continued to play tour guide as they walked past the Theater of the Stars, the entrance to the outdoor amphitheater, and a food market.

"Jordan is enjoying Luke's commentary," Lauren remarked as they drew close to a run-down thirteen-story hotel façade.

"She's into Hollywood stuff," Payson said simply, refusing to play into Lauren's insinuation.

"That much?" Lauren nodded to where the three have paused as Luke's hand waves at some detail.

Payson held back a sigh of annoyance at Lauren's continued pushing, but Jake beat her to a retort.

"Hon, leave them alone. I know you're not best friends with Jordan but if she wants to hang out with Kaylie, she can."

Lauren's cheeks pinked but she kept her lips shut as she hurried to keep up with Jake as they entered the outdoor line for Tower of Terror. A flickering sign claimed a wait of 13 minutes but a more solid sign predicted a little under a half hour.

"So you think Lauren is jealous of Jordan or do you think she's still trying to get under your skin?" Emily murmured to Payson as they wound past a derelict fountain bed.

Payson thought for a moment. "Probably both. She's feeling insecure by Jordan's friendship with Kaylie so she can make herself feel better by taking it on someone else, in this case me."

"Somehow Lauren Tanner and insecure just don't seem to go together," Emily muttered.

Stepping into the cool dimly-lit lobby of the hotel distracted the two women from their contemplation of their former teammate's mental state. The details from a long-ago era were neat but the film of dust and cobwebs kept a slight sense of unease hovering. The black-and-white broadcast in the hotel library where they were surrounded by strange artifacts didn't help. Neither did the unsettling backstory of hotel guests just vanishing.

"I'm kind of glad we aren't staying at this hotel," Emily said to Payson as they wound their past boilers towards the service elevators. Payson nodded in agreement; she knew this was all just Disney magic but the Imagineers had done their work well on this ride.

Ten minutes later Payson felt even more that the Imagineers had done their work. Despite screaming multiple times, she had loved the crazy elevator drops accompanied by ghostly visions and glimpses high over Hollywood Studios.

"Wow," she grinned to Emily as the group headed over to the screens to see their photo from the ride.

"It wasn't that exciting," Lauren sneered over her shoulder.

"Someone is not in a good mood," Luke's voice suddenly said very close to Payson's ear and she barely suppressed a shiver.

"You noticed too?" she asked, grateful that her voice stayed steady.

He grinned wryly, "Lauren hasn't struck me as the ball of sunshine type but she has turned up the frigidness in the last half hour."

"She was being rude to Payson earlier and Jake pointed it," Emily supplied helpfully. "So a little trouble in the romance department."

"Ah," Luke replied. "Let's hope it's not contagious." He winked at Payson and she felt her cheeks flame.

"Hey, there's our picture!" she blurted as the image popped up on the screen.

"You're cute when you blush," Luke murmured and then turned his attention to the photo where the group was showing a range of emotions from Jake's face-splitting grin to Kaylie's somewhat terrified scream to Lauren's rigid pout.

From here the group headed to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Its wait time stretched a little longer than Tower of Terror, and Payson found the queue area not as intriguing. However, the fast twists and loops of the ride while rock music blared behind her ears had her leaving the ride with another smile. Then they made their way back to Hollywood Boulevard and past Echo Lake to the huge amphitheater that housed the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.

They found seats about halfway up the rows, Payson between Luke and Emily, Kelly and Nicky on the other side of Emily. The five enjoyed chatting about other roller coaster experiences for the ten minute wait they had before Indy made his first appearance.

"You know, I think I might like a career as a stunt double," Nicky mused as they exited after the final scene with a fiery explosion, multiple gunshots, and a few faked deaths.

"I'm not really feeling a move to California," Kelly said, her tone joking.

"I'm sure there's plenty of options in New York," Nicky replied easily. Kelly opened her mouth and then shut it.

"Speechless?" Kaylie had tuned in to the end of their conversation. "Kelly Parker, speechless?"

Nicky nodded with a grin. "I have that effect on her."

Kelly pursued her lips and shoved him. "Only occasionally."

They laughed as they walked over to the Great Movie Ride. Payson loved the replicated look of Mann's Chinese Theater. Inside they followed the line past costumes and artifacts from famous movies such as Mary Poppins and then watched a few trailers for other class films before boarding their large, slow-moving trams for a trip through movie history including musicals such as Singin' in the Rain and crime films like The Public Enemy. A hijacking of their tram by an Old West outlaw only meant that they were reliant on the soundtrack to explain the movies rather than their movie-theater-usher-styled guide at least until the hijacker met with an unfortunate fate in an ancient Egyptian temple. Reunited with their original guide, they continued on past scenes from Tarzan, Casablanca, and Fantasia before ending in a theater for a final film montage.

"How have you never seen Alien?" Luke was still stuck on this fact a few hours later as the group unloaded from the bus that had brought them back to the resort for a short afternoon break.

Payson sighed. "It's not that unusual, Luke."

"It's part of a whole series! Major sci-fi!"

"And definitely on the horror scary side," she retorted. "I don't like creepy aliens."

Luke just shook his head. "We're going to have to fix this."

"No, we don't," she replied, walking across the parking lot a little faster.

"Yes, we do."

"Nope."

"How else am I going to get to cuddle with you?"

His question stopped Payson in her tracks, and Kaylie nearly ran her over as she turned to face Luke.

However, before she could ask Luke what exactly his comment meant, Payson's eyes caught sight of someone walking out of the hospitality house area.

"Oh no."


	20. This-Trip-Is-Headed-For-Disaster

Luke frowned, "Oh no?"

"Crap," Kaylie had also noticed the man Payson had seen. She grabbed Payson and Luke's hands and started tugging. "Come on, I don't think he's seen us yet. If we just walk fast enough-"

"Austin!" A deep voice called out across the tops of the parked cars. "Is that you, man?"

"Who's that?" Luke was now staring at the shaggy-haired blonde hurrying towards them.

"An old teammate," Payson said diplomatically.

"A pompous jerk," Emily said from behind them.

"A nightmare," Kaylie muttered.

"Carter?" Austin finally gave the answer Luke had really been trying to find.

"Carter? As in Carter Anderson? Olympian?" Luke turned to Payson. "That's why he looks familiar."

"Carter as in this-trip-is-headed-for-disaster," Kaylie grumbled as she walked past them to follow her boyfriend who was approaching the other man. Jordan picked up on the potential problem and hurried after the couple.

"Huh," Kelly said, now standing by them. "This is about to get quite interesting."

"That Anderson?" Nicky joined in the staring. "I haven't seen him in years."

"Why is this getting interesting?" Luke asked.

"Let's just say Carter isn't high on our list of people we like," Payson replied slowly.

Emily grunted, "I'm supposed Austin is being so calm."

Payson eyed the polite handshake Austin had just given his former teammate. "Well, I'm sure it helps that Carter's ancient history to Kaylie."

"Ancient history?" Luke raised an eyebrow even as his eyes showed that he was starting to piece the story together. "Wait, now that you mention it, I remember Austin griping about how Carter had had a thing with Kaylie once."

"What are you all doing still waiting in the parking lot?" Lauren's voice shrilled at them. "Remember I forgot my room key? I need one of you to—Carter?"

Lauren's shrill tone turned into an excited squeal, and the petite blonde raced towards her former gym mate.

"Someone seems to have gotten over the love triangle," Emily said.

"Triangle?" Luke was no longer following.

Jake stopped next to them. "This really is an Olympic gymnastics reunion."

"Triangle?" Luke repeated since no one had answered him yet.

"Kaylie dated Carter before Austin," Jake supplied.

Payson observed the man carefully and then suppressed a sigh. She caught Emily's eye and the other woman nodded slightly, her expression conveying the same thought. _"Jake doesn't know."_

"Gymnastics really is a small world," Kelly chirped, her tone just a bit too happy. Payson glanced at the woman whose lips were somewhere into between a maniacal grin and a homicidal grimace.

Luckily, Jake didn't notice the strange look from Kelly as he was continuing out to where Carter had just released Lauren from a long bear hug.

"You know," Kelly commented. "I may not have known him long but he seems like a good guy."

"Definitely," Emily agreed.

"So," Kelly drew the word out. "Do we tell him?"

"No," Nicky said firmly. "Not our place."

"Tell him?" Luke asked.

"But doesn't he have a right to know that he may not want Lauren standing with Carter?" Kelly jerked her chin in their direction where Carter had now draped an arm around the blonde's shoulders.

Nicky gave Kelly a look, "Do you really want to tick Lauren off?"

Kelly shrugged. "I don't care if blondie is mad with me."

"Maybe it's never been relevant," Payson suggested, her words following quickly by a snort from Emily. Payson continued, "Really, after the Olympics, we didn't see Carter. Remember? He wasn't even on the tour."

"So you don't think Jake needs to know that Lauren was involved with Carter?" Emily asked.

"Can you really call what they had even an involvement?" Kelly said. "Sleeping together isn't a relationship."

"Wait, Lauren and Kaylie dated Carter?" Luke asked.

The others all looked at Luke for a heartbeat before Kelly spoke up, "I'm not sure whether I pity you for being confused or envy you for having missed out on the drama."

"You have to think about that?" Emily asked.

"Well, she did miss out on most of it, not training at the Rock," Payson pointed out, raising her eyebrows at the petite woman.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease, I still had to deal with the drama every time we competed against each other."

"How did you even know?" Payson exclaimed. "The Rock had a no-dating policy!"

Kelly just rolled her eyes again.

"Ok, point taken."

"Could someone just explain?" Luke interrupted.

Kelly glanced over to where the reunion group was standing in two groups, a slight distance between Austin, Kaylie, and Jordan and then Carter and Lauren with Jake awkwardly bridging the two. "I will gladly, but how about we move to our rooms? I'm not sure Blondie would like this discussion."

"Are you sure Kelly wasn't secretly training at the Rock and we just didn't notice?" Emily murmured quietly as the group made their way from the bus to the entrance of Hollywood Studios later that afternoon.

Luke moaned, "I should have asked for a copy of her diagram."

Payson chuckled at the memory of Kelly's exasperated look when Luke had connected the once-bunheaded gymnast with Damon and how she had then pulled out her phone and started whipping her fingers through a Draw program to make her points about the dating lives of the Rock Rebels clearer. "Luke, she took it easy on you."

"What do you mean, easy!"

Payson's eyes twinkled even as her thoughts were sober. "She left a few details out." A fact for which, she was very grateful. Her kiss with Sasha still sometimes caused a blush of embarrassment. A glance over at Emily showed that she shared in Payson's gratitude. While Kelly had mentioned that both Emily and Kaylie had dated Damon, she had kept the timeline vague—vague enough that Luke wouldn't pick up that Damon had fathered Emily's son.

"There's more? How did you guys have time for this much dating?" Luke asked. "I barely had time between school and-" He suddenly fell silent, but Payson, realizing that he had stopped talking to avoid bringing up his own gymnastics background, filled in the gap.

"We didn't go to public school for a full day like you."

"So what are you all talking about? Luke looks like it's pretty serious," Kaylie said, looking back at the quintet.

"Just school," Kelly replied airily. Kaylie tilts her head, obviously suspicious of Kelly's far-too-cheerful tone, but she just smiled.

 _"She's still happy that Carter already had plans with a friend for dinner over at Disney Springs,"_ Payson figured for Kaylie's reason not to pursue Kelly's unusual behavior.

Kaylie said, "Hmm, school. Not my first choice for conversation, but ok. We've got fifteen minutes to kill before our dinner reservations anyway."

While lunch had been quick—pizza—Austin had made dinner plans for them at the Sci Fi Diner. Not being a fan of alien movies, Payson had been a little hesitant at the announcement shortly after the other half of the group had returned to their hotel rooms. However, as soon as they entered the dining space, she felt her minor apprehension drop away.

"This is cute," she said, her eyes taking in the night sky above them, the servers rolling by on skates, the diners seated in four-person convertibles rather than at tables.

"Straight out of a B-movie," Kelly said.

"Exactly!" Nicky pointed at a large screen that was touting the film "Cat-women of the Moon."

Kelly raised her eyebrows at him. "This is your idea of dinner and a movie?"

"Come on," Nicky tugged her hand over to a blue car where the two of them slid into the front seat. Since they were a group of ten, one pair would have a little bit more space to themselves, and Nicky had claimed it as a faux date night for himself and Kelly.

"I think she's secretly enjoying this," Luke murmured, his hand resting on Payson's shoulder.

"Oh? You think Kelly looks happy?"

Luke chuckled, "I know she had a reputation for being quite vicious, but Kelly Parker is not as hard as first impressions might make you think."

"Ah, you've started to figure our Kelly out," Payson said, settling in the backseat of the red convertible where Jordan and Emily were already sitting.

"Ooh, popcorn!" Kaylie exclaimed from one car over as the server arrived with the appetizer.

Payson sighed contentedly as she opened up a menu; it seemed like Carter's appearance was just going to be an unpleasant but brief bump in their trip. As Luke stretched an arm out casually behind her, Payson let her grin grow.

 _"Yep, this is going to be a great evening,"_ she thought.


	21. Almost Impossible

"Are you humming the music from Fantasmic?" Her eyes wide with surprise, Emily turned around to look at Kaylie as the group stood waiting for a bus back to their resort.

"Yeah," Kaylie blushed a little. "From the end."

"You picked that up quickly," Emily said.

Kaylie shrugged. "I've always had a thing for music. I didn't really think about though because of how big of a part gymnastics played in my life. I guess I just always figured that my mom had been a singer so of course I could sing."

"Have you done much with music since the Olympics?" Luke asked.

Kaylie's eyes took on a more guarded look. "No, I've chosen a different direction."

"Shame really," Lauren said, her voice edging close to fake. "You and Damon collaborated so well together."

"Damon?" Payson resisted the urge to groan as Luke naively walked right into Lauren's trap. Being the outsider in the group, Luke would be curious, and Lauren of course knew how to exploit that naivety.

"Damon Young, the big rock star," Lauren supplied with a helpful grin.

"Oh yeah, he's from Boulder," Luke made the connection. "Wow, didn't realize you knew him, Kaylie."

"It was a long time ago," she said quickly, her eyes skittering over to Emily just as Lauren added, "We all knew Damon."

"Well, not me," Jake put in.

"That's because Emily got-" Lauren started.

"Damon shifted out of our lives before the Olympics," Payson spoke over the other blonde and raised an eyebrow at Jake. She knew he had to know the full Damon connection, and she had to work not to glare at him. However, Jake gave an apologetic grimace, and Payson's heart softened.

 _"He just didn't think before speaking,"_ she realized and then let out a sigh of relief as a bus pulled up to their stop.

"What's all that about with Damon Young?" Luke asked as they slide into a seat.

"Lauren just being jealous that Kaylie got to do something she didn't," Payson said quickly, choosing to gloss over the real issue of Lauren wanting to stir up trouble again.

Luke eyed Payson but she ignored him. Across the aisle from them, Kaylie and Austin were one seat ahead, Emily behind them. Kaylie had just swiveled around to look at Emily. Her dark eyes burned with emotion.

"I'm sorry, Em," she said softly, barely loud enough for Payson to hear as the bus finished loading passengers.

"Kaylie," Emily started and then stopped, shaking her head. "I can't."

"I'm not asking for forgiveness," Kaylie said, holding her head high despite a slight tremor in her jaw. "But I need to tell you that I'm sorry I didn't look at the bigger picture back then. I was selfish."

Emily's mouth dropped open for the second time in the last twenty minutes thanks to Kaylie. She forced it shut, swallowed slowly, and then stuttered, "Kaylie, I'm grateful but I was so hurt."

Kaylie nodded, her lips tight, and then repeated, "I'm not looking for forgiveness. I just wanted to tell you that I've grown since then, and I know you've got a great support network, but I'm here if you need me." Then she turned around.

Payson leaned across the aisle to lay a hand on Emily's arm. She murmured, "You ok?"

Emily nodded although her eyes glistened. "Yeah, just need to process."

Payson watched her friend for a moment longer and then slid back against her seat. Luke didn't say anything, just wrapped an arm around her.

Back at the resort, the group moved towards their rooms, but Emily paused at the entrance. "I think I'm going to walk for a little bit."

"Care for some company?" Payson asked.

Emily gave her a wobbly smile, "Sure." Payson noticed Kaylie's concerned look but the brunette stayed silent, giving her former teammate space.

Payson and Emily headed back down the sidewalk. The night air was cool but comfortable, quiet after the rousing music and special effects of Fantasmic. The women had walked all the way past the Hospitality House and its pool area before Emily finally spoke.

"Lauren's a piece of work."

Payson snorted, "She hasn't matured much since our competitive days."

"Putting Damon behind me has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do," Emily said, her voice catching.

"You're not over him," Payson stated what Emily's words had sidestepped.

"He's my first love, the only guy I've ever loved," Emily replied. "He's the father of my son. Pay, I tried to get over him, I did, but I couldn't move forward. It wasn't until I decided to accept that he will always have a place in my heart that I was able to stop wishing and dreaming that things were different, that we could be together."

"You couldn't change how you felt for him but you could put it aside," Payson replied.

Emily nodded, "And usually I can do that, but sometimes the past intrudes too much. Like when I saw Kaylie, I couldn't forget that she kissed him while I was pregnant."

Payson stayed quiet, caught between two friends who had both been in difficult situations. Scared, Emily had not told Damon about the pregnancy before fleeing Boulder. Confused, he had bonded with Kaylie who was struggling with adjusting to life following treatment for anorexia.

"She tried to apologize to me after London," Emily said.

Payson twisted swiftly in surprise, "She did?" Payson knew that Kaylie had reached out to Emily before the Olympic Trials but this admission was new information.

"At that big welcome home celebration the Rock threw," Emily said slowly. "She came up to me and started to say she was sorry, but I just walked away."

"Em," Payson started.

"I wasn't ready," Emily continued, "and I'm not sure how much she meant it then or was just apologizing to make herself feel better."

Payson stayed quiet. She loved Kaylie but guessed that Emily's words hit close to the truth. Four years ago Kaylie had battled down many of her demons but had still focused primarily on either herself or those absolutely closest to her. Emily had fallen out of that circle.

"Tonight though," Emily spoke up again, "she was being completely honest. She admitted that she hurt me by being selfish. She didn't try to excuse it."

"Did it help?" Payson asked.

Emily blew out an exasperated sigh. "No. Maybe. I'm not sure. Payson, am I supposed to suddenly just want to be friends with her again?"

Payson chuckled, "No, forgiveness doesn't mean that everything goes back to the way it was."

"Good," Emily said quietly. "I can forgive her now, but I don't want to be her close girlfriend."

"I think she understands that."

"I'm not even sure why I was invited on this trip," Emily added.

"Because you're part of the team, part of the Rock Rebels," Payson answered without hesitation.

"I didn't even make it to the Olympic Trials."

"Making the Olympics isn't what made you a Rock Rebel. Being true to who we were was what made you part of the team," Payson replied. "You had hard choices to make, Em, but you chose what your heart said not what the NGO wanted or any other set of rules."

Emily gave Payson a small smile. "And that's why you were team captain."

Payson smiled back, "Are you ready to head over to the room now?"

Emily nodded. They were quiet again for the walk back but Payson could sense that Emily was carrying a lighter load than earlier. As they approached their unit, Payson realized that Luke was waiting outside.

"Evening, ladies," he greeted them.

"Hi."

"Is something wrong?" Payson asked.

"Not really," he answered. "I'm getting the feeling that Lauren being angry with Jake is something that happens on a somewhat regular basis?"

"Probably," Payson said as Emily nodded.

"Then everything is normal."

"Why are you outside?"

"Thought maybe we could go for a walk?" he suggested, looking straight at Payson.

"Kind of late," she hedged.

"We only have so many bathrooms and a lot of people," Emily spoke up. "I bet they're all being used as we get ready for bed."

Payson wanted to glare at Emily. Luke made her tingle, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to feel that way. Being alone with him would not help that feeling.

"It's ok if you're tired," he said.

Payson shook her head, "No, it'd be nice to go for a little walk."

His eyes brightened, and Payson felt her stomach flutter.

"So what was your favorite part of today?" Luke asked as they headed down the sidewalk, this time veering more alongside the guest buildings.

Payson thought for a moment before answering "Toy Story Mania," and handing the question back to Luke. The conversation flowed comfortably, just as much as his hand fit around hers when Luke reached for it a few minutes into the walk. They focused on the events of the day until suddenly Luke asked, "So what's the real story with Damon Young and your group? He was more than just an acquaintance."

"What makes you think that?"

"Lauren seemed determined to keep him in the conversation."

Payson hesitated before answering, "He and Emily dated."

"Like a serious relationship?"

Payson nodded slowly.

"So what happened?"

"We knew Damon before he hit it big. With Emily's career as an elite gymnast and Damon's starting career as a major singer, their schedules were just different," Payson replied and then added silently, _"Plus the whole she got pregnant and didn't tell anyone and then he sort of got involved with Kaylie."_

"Long distance relationships between two people very focused on separate goals can be almost impossible," Luke said. They had circled back to their building and were now standing right outside the door to their rooms. Luke didn't reach for his key to let them in though. Instead he paused and looked at Payson, his eyes holding hers.

"Almost impossible?" she asked, feeling that his comment had not been only about Emily and Damon.

Luke held her gaze and then leaned down to brush a kiss across her forehead. "Almost impossible is not the same as impossible."


	22. Maybe

The bright morning sun matched Payson's mood perfectly the next morning as the group waited to enter EPCOT fully. A quick glance to her right confirmed that Emily and Luke were both echoing her mood although a side glance to the left revealed that Lauren is still half turned away from the others, her sunglasses hiding angry eyes. Jake had retreated over to Austin and Kaylie, his last two attempts to cheer Lauren up resulting in her snapping at him. However, Payson refused to dwell on the blonde's pity party or mini-tantrum or whatever her attitude would be considered. The quiet time with Luke last night had her feeling happier than she had most of the trip. That nervous uncertainty that had hovered in the back of her mind whenever she looked at him was gone. They had not discussed where they stood with each other, but she could feel that they were at least back in comfortable ground.

"So what's up first?" Jordan asked Austin. Only a minute or two waited before the park would open, and they were all eager to explore the futuristic side of the park. "Spaceship Earth?"

"The giant golf ball? No way."

"That would have to be a pretty big person to play golf with that," Jake said, his eyes sliding towards Lauren who still refused to crack a smile.

"About two miles tall," Luke ventured. However, the stares that the group turned on him at his knowledge of this bit of trivia quickly swiveled to the movement ahead of them. Luke grasped Payson's hand as the crowd surged forward. Austin moved to the lead of their group, his hand holding tightly onto Kaylie who flashed them a sparkling grin as they cut to the right and through a tall outdoor corridor of the Innoventions West building. As they came back into the early morning sun, Payson noticed metal plates on the ground, but a conical roof glimmering in the light pulled her attention upwards.

"That's where we're going," Luke said, noticing her gaze. They kept moving at a near trot which only gave Payson a few brief moments to take in the earthy-toned tile mosaics on the walls outside the Land Pavilion.

"Oh, neat!" she breathed, stopping in her tracks as they entered. Luke tugged on her hand to keep her moving and not being run down by eager park guests.

"Come on."

"They're little hot air balloons!"

"One for each season plus one to represent the Earth," Luke explained as they followed the downward slope of the curved open hall to a set of steps that led down to the lower level. From here they entered the queue area for a ride that Payson just barely caught the name.

"Soarin?"

"You're going to love it," he promised. Their frenetic pace finally slowed as they encountered the back of the line.

"We made good progress," Austin noted. "Just have one hallway to go."

"And probably not a lot of FastPass people yet so that will help move the line faster," Luke noted and then turned towards the wall to their right where a huge screen showed a somewhat geometric landscape. "You'll like this."

Payson scrunched her forehead in confusion as people near her lifted their arms into the air. "What?"

Luke put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around to face the screen fully. "See that bird? The landscape is really an obstacle course for it and how the crowd waves their hands controls how well the bird navigates."

He released her shoulders to lift his hands up , Payson copying his actions. It seemed a little weird at first to be leaning in the direction the bird needed to turn to avoid the canyon rocks but as she got the hang of it and watched their bird advance through the scenery, she could feel her grin spreading. She was actually a little disappointed when the line moved forward, taking them away from the interactive scene and into a more mundane hallway designed to make them think of a boarding area for a flight.

"You look sad," Emily commented, noticing Payson's face.

Payson laughed, "I'm behaving like a four-year old who's been told to put one toy away before taking out another one. We're about to get on a supposedly great ride-"

"It is awesome!" Luke put in.

"And," Payson continued over him, "here I am, feeling sad that we didn't have more time to play with the bird game."

Emily grinned, "Hey, I kind of wish we'd had more time with it too! And trust me, you're not behaving like a four-year old at all."

"I guess you should know," Payson smiled back at her friend.

"Have you talked to Leon much?" Lauren cut in to the conversation.

"Liam you mean?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Right," Lauren's grin didn't quite look apologetic. "Liam. I just can't remember his name."

"Maybe if you called home more often, you'd hear it more frequently," Emily suggested, her voice low and her eyes sparking.

"Oh, come on," Lauren retorted. "You know why I don't like speaking with my dad very much."

"Just because you don't like who he married."

"Don't act like you're happy about our parents, Emily," Lauren snapped.

"It's been three years, Lauren," Emily replied. "I think you need to accept that my mom is permanent in your dad's life."

"They did seem pretty happy at Christmas," Jake offered. Lauren pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm missing something here," Luke said, his newness to the group showing again. Payson debated the wisdom of his comment. On the one hand, it put him right in the middle of the increasing tension between the two stepsisters. On the other hand, it deflected their attention and stopped the staring contest.

Lauren sighed heavily. "My dad married Emily's mom three years ago. I don't think they're a good match at all, and my dad is just going to be crushed when her mom decides she's done."

"Really, Lauren?" Emily's voice was rising now. "My mom certainly has her faults-"

"You can say that!"

"But loyalty is not one of them!" Emily finished, her glare fully back on the blonde.

Strangely, Lauren had no snide return for Emily's defense, and Payson released her breath as the line moved forward again.

"So how is your little boy?" Jake asked almost hesitantly.

Emily smiled, her expression tight but she recognized the genuine thought behind the wrestler's inquiry. "Mom said he took a little longer to get to sleep that first night but once he fell asleep, he stayed out, so it sounds like he's missing me but adapting. I'm grateful he wasn't up most of the night fussing."

"He does that still?" Kaylie asked. "I mean, he's old enough to sleep through the night usually, right?"

Emily nodded slowly, the normal glow when talking about her son suddenly shielded. "Liam is a pretty good sleeper when he's home with me, but even though we Facetime with Chloe a lot, he doesn't see his grandma enough to feel totally comfortable with her right away. I expected the first night or two to be rough."

"All kids miss their moms," Kaylie said, the rest of the group agreeing although Lauren stayed aloof. The line moved them forward into the Bravo Gate area where they received boarding directions. Then the doors in front of them opened.

Payson felt like she was walking into a cross between the I-max theater at a science museum she sometimes visited and a dimly-lit airport hangar. Luke sat down in the front row seat where they had been guided and quickly strapped himself in. Payson picked up the seatbelt a little dubiously.

"Are we going to flipping upside down?"

"Nope, just flying," Luke grinned and then reached over, took the seatbelt out of her hand, and finished buckling her in.

"Don't you think I could've done that?" Payson twisted her mouth at him.

"But this gave me an excuse to brush hands with you," he flirted.

"If you want to hold my hand, you should just take it," she replied back boldly, part of her brain reeling from her forwardness.

"If you insist," Luke said, wrapping her fingers in his. They just stared at each for a long moment until the lights darkened.

Luke released her hand and leaned over, "I want you to focus on the ride not me."

"Oh, you think you're that distracting?"

"Maybe."

Payson swore she could hear Luke's grin in his cheeky response.


	23. Finally Calming Down

With a smooth upward swing, their seats rose up into the air, the action pulling Payson's thoughts to the screen in front of her instead of Luke's flirtatious tone. The Imagineers had once again done a strong job not just with the scenes playing out in her vision but in adding subtle hints to the other senses like a breeze to trick her mind into thinking they truly were gliding over the earth for five and a half minutes. The snowy cap of the Matterhorn accompanied by the coolness of the Ice Fjord in Greenland. The iconic half dome of the Sydney Opera House on the harbor and the equally-recognized towers of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. The beauty of natural life from Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the engineering wonders of the ancient pyramids in Egypt and the Great Wall of China. The crashing, organic depths of Iguazu Falls in Argentina contradicted by the soaring, solid heights of Paris's Eiffel Tower. And of course, an aerial view of EPCOT itself.

Exiting the ride, the group chatted in unanimous accord that Soarin' was high on their list of favorites. With over a half hour to the time on their FastPasses for the ride being active, they decided to check out the rest of the pavilion. While not as exciting as Soarin', the boat ride provided a more educational look at agriculture. After visiting the woodlands during a thunderstorm, they floated through the rainforest, the desert, and the American prairie before entering the first of four greenhouses.

"Bananas!" Emily pointed.

"Cacao is better," Jordan put in her opinion. "Without it we can't have chocolate!"

"I like pineapple," Lauren said from the seat in front of them as their boat passed the growing fruit. Even though she was trying hard not to let Lauren get to her, Payson felt a bit of relief at the woman's contribution to the conversation. Maybe her prickly attitude from earlier was wearing off.

"Pineapple is a great choice," Jake murmured, leaning close to Lauren's ear. She giggled and Payson choked back a gag. She did not want to know and judging from the quick squeeze Luke gave to her hand, neither did he. Thankfully the others in the group did not seem to have caught Jake's comment.

The boat drifted gently past tanks housing tilapia, catfish, and bass as well as a few other water-based creatures.

"Those are alligators," Emily said.

"Yep," Austin agreed.

Emily groaned, "Their eyes creep me out."

"At least they're little," Payson said.

"And not crawling out of a pond towards you," Jordan added. Emily just groaned again as they journeyed on to another greenhouse.

"Check out the squash Mickey," Luke pointed out as they floated through a glass-enclosed space. Sure enough a light orange gourd was growing inside of a plastic form that would shape it into a replica of the famous Mouse silhouette.

Disembarking, Payson felt a rumble from her stomach.

"So I'm thinking breakfast," Kelly spoke up. She had sat with Nicky in the back row of the boat, and the two had been fairly quiet, but as Payson looked at the couple, they seemed relaxed, not displaying any of the frustrated energy that Lauren and Jake had been showing earlier.

"I like breakfast," Austin agreed.

"Let's check out the food court," Luke directed the group. Turning to Payson, he said, "Bet you're glad Kelly brought breakfast up."

"Oh?"

He grinned, "I heard the growls."

Payson felt her cheeks pinken at his teasing. "I usually eat before leaving home for the day."

"Well, let's find something to eat." Breakfast was good, Payson enjoying both the conversation and her choice of the breakfast power wrap—and the slice of bacon she stole from Luke.

"You're going to owe me for that," he warned her under the talking of the others.

"It's like fifty cents even with inflated amusement park prices."

"I'm looking for payment in time not money," he replied and then shoved a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. Not quite sure how to reply, Payson just took a bite of her wrap.

They continued exploring Future World the rest of the morning, using their FastPasses for a second ride of Soarin' before heading over to the pavilion housing The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Although Luke had made his preference for time with Payson clear, he stepped back to give Emily a chance to ride in the pink Clam-Mobile with Payson. The young women had fun watching the different Pixar characters appear in different aquatic windows. The fun continued as they walked around and peered into the huge saltwater aquarium that had for many years been the largest in the world. Kelly surprised most of the group by her squeal of delight at the sight of a round manatee paddling around a circular tank.

"Aren't dolphins cuter?" Jordan asked, looking at the sedately-moving animal. Kelly didn't even bother to reply, just stared at Jordan until the other woman raised her hands in mock defeat.

At the next pavilion they visited, the group met an energetic purple dragon named Figment who took them on a tour through the Imagination. Even though the ride was obviously geared more towards younger visitors, Payson found it amusing—and delighted in Luke's arm casually slung across the back of the seat for her to lean against.

Promising that yes, eventually they would ride in "the giant golf ball," Luke hurried the group across to Mission: Space where their FastPasses had just come into the right timespan. Unfortunately this ride with its simulated g-force did not agree with Emily at all and both Kaylie and Lauren looked paler than when they had entered the attraction.

"I think I'm going to sit Test Track out," Emily decided as they started towards the single rider line.

"This one is a lot tamer," Luke reassured her.

Emily shook her head. "Since having a baby, my body hasn't appreciated certain things as much. I'll be okay, but just need a little downtime."

"Want to go visit Innoventions with me?" Kaylie offered.

Emily hesitation was minimal, just enough that Payson noticed but she figured the guys hadn't picked up on it. "That sounds like a better idea than sitting out in the sun waiting on this crew."

"Want me to come with?" Austin asked his girlfriend. Kaylie flashed him a big smile.

"And miss a car ride? I wouldn't ask you to do that."

"You didn't. I offered."

From her left Payson heard Kelly mutter to Nicky, "Don't ever be that sweet-sounding to me." An answering snort told Payson that Nicky completely understood the difference in the two former champions' personalities.

With a good-bye wave, Kaylie headed back in the direction of Spaceship Earth, Emily beside her. The rest of the group joined the single-rider line. Test Track was not a ride where you would be doing much talking during the ride, and this tactic would move them through the wait more quickly. Despite this choice, the line still stretched longer than any of their other waits so far that day. However, to Payson's surprise, Lauren turned to Jordan and started asking about her favorite TV shows.

"Besides the one you're in," Lauren said with an amused smirk.

Not taking offense, Jordan considered the question for a minute. "Well, it's not anything deep but I enjoy "Younger."

Payson had never heard of the comedy-drama but it turned out that Lauren was an avid fan. The two chatted about the show for a few minutes before the guys decided to start discussing their own favorite TV shows, a list that American Ninja Warrior topped. Payson had caught this reality show a few times the previous summer, so it was easy to join in that discussion, Kelly following her lead.

The line and conversation continued moving forward until they reached the loading area with its noise of cars braking and starting up again. Since they had opted for the single-rider line, this was the point where they got split up. Jake and Lauren went in the same car, just in different rows, while Jordan was in a car with a family and Austin followed behind her, his co-riders a gang of enthusiastic high schoolers.

"I bet they yell a lot," Kelly said, watching the car rumble away. The four of them had to wait through three more cars before there was room to load Kelly and Nicky. Another car and it was Payson's turn.

"See you at the end," Luke waved, needing to wait for a different vehicle.

"So how many times have you been on the ride?" the middle-aged woman next to Payson asked as they strapped themselves in.

"It's my first time," Payson said. While the group had visited EPCOT following their Olympic triumph, Test Track had been undergoing renovations, not reopening until over a month after their trip.

"Enjoy then," the woman smiled. The ride focused on the concept of their car undergoing a variety of tests to determine its road-worthiness. They zipped through rain and snow only to feel the car skid out of control before righting itself and then avoiding a lightning bolt. The efficiency tests were less interesting to Payson, the scanning and imaging not as thrilling. Responsiveness heightened the adrenaline though as the car navigated along tight turns and narrowly missed a semi-truck in a tunnel. Finally the car accelerated and shot out of the indoor testing area for a loop in the bright Florida sunshine. With the wind whipping her hair back, Payson enjoyed the ride until the car's speed slowed and they returned to the loading/unloading area.

"Why didn't someone warn me there was a camera on this ride?" Lauren was whining as Luke and Payson rejoined the group which had congregated by the viewing screens.

"Too bad you didn't walk a little faster," Kelly smirked to Payson. She kept her voice just barely above a whisper. "Blondie had her hands clapped over her mouth like she was about to throw up and the kid next her was looking right at her with a majorly terrified expression on his face."

"Did she get sick?"

"Nah, probably just should've sat this one out," Kelly replied. "I wish I had taken a picture with my Smartphone of that image. It would've been nice to have to look at when she reverts to her evil side."

Part of Payson knew she should tell Kelly to play nice especially since Lauren had been so well-behaved while in line. However, she still did not trust the former beamer, so instead she just turned her attention to the screens.

"That one of you and Nicky looks good."

"Yeah," Kelly replied, her voice a little soft. "You can tell we're enjoying ourselves."

"It's good. You should get a copy."

"Added it to my Photopass," Kelly said and then added, "Now don't start thinking that it means anything life-changing for him and me."

"She really doesn't want to admit that I've gotten under her skin, does she?" Nicky said, wrapping an arm around Kelly's waist. She gave a half grunt, half sigh, but smiled when he planted a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Ok, ok, I like having you around," she admitted and then gently pulled out of his grip. "However, enough PDA. Don't we have two friends to go find?"

"Just texted Kaylie," Austin spoke up. "She and Emily are coming back this way to meet us." The group exited the attraction space without spending time at any other the other kiosks. Out of the air conditioning, Payson felt the humidity from the rapidly-warming Florida day.

"There they are," Jordan waved the pair over. "So how was Innoventions?"

"Fun, definitely what I needed to calm my stomach," Emily replied.

"Yeah, I think I should've gone with you guys," Lauren said.

"Are you ok?"

"Getting there," Lauren replied. "So tell us more." Emily smiled as she started to describe their time exploring the interactive exhibits. Kaylie was quieter, just whispering to Austin, although when Payson caught her eyes with a curious look, the Hispanic woman gave a bright smile back.

" _Maybe things are finally calming down,"_ Payson thought to herself. _"Maybe I need to stop worrying how everyone is doing."_

Later Payson would realize she should have been more concerned about Kaylie's furtive comments to Austin.


	24. Someone Back Home Pining

_AN: I'm not entirely sure of the exact ages of the gymnasts from when the show was on so since this is four years after the Olympics, I've decided they were all at least 17 by spring of 2012 to be 21 for this story. If someone can point me to where the show narrows down their actual ages, I will adjust as needed; thanks!_

Although they knew it would make for a long day, the group had planned to stay at EPCOT for the full day, no midday break back at the room. In exchange they decided to have a relaxing lunch.

"This way, Kaylie," Austin steered his girlfriend to the left towards a large pyramid.

"But isn't that where we're eating?" she asked, pointing to an eatery bordering the lagoon. "San Angel?"

"That's La Hacienda de San Angel," Luke replied, his Spanish accent on point. "We're eating at San Angel Restaurant which is deep within the pyramid."

"You know that sounds a bit morbid," Kelly pointed as they climbed the steps.

"Morbid?"

"You know what the Aztecs did at the top of their pyramids right?"

"Top not inside."

"Luke's got a point," Nicky said. Payson agreed although her attention was divided between the conversation and the display cases in the entrance hall of the pyramid.

Kelly snorted and then stopped, her eyes taking in the true interior of the pyramid. "Okay, Luke, you did well. This is cool."

Payson had to agree. Two minutes ago they had been standing under a hot Florida sun, but now they were surrounded by the twilight of a Mexican _pueblecito_.

"This way," Luke headed down the sloped path, and the others followed him into the market area. They passed brightly-striped afghans, the expected sombreros, painted ceramics, grinning skulls, and even a few spicy food products. On the edge of the market, some shops offered other wares; Payson caught a glimpse of glass-blown pieces in one, T-shirts in another. Emily was tempted by a toy at one of the market stands, but the group pressed on towards the restaurant in the back.

"Is that a volcano?" Kelly murmured, looking across the tables.

Payson nodded, "Yeah and it looks like some boats float right by the diners on that end."

"There's a ride in here?"

"Gran Fiesta Tour," Luke supplied. "Donald and his friends go on an adventure down south of the border. So the hostess says we can split up and get seated fairly quick or we can wait at least twenty minutes to sit together."

"Split up," was the unanimous response and only a minute later, Payson was settling in at a table with Luke, Kelly, and Nicky. Austin, Kaylie, Lauren, and Jake were two tables to their right while Jordan and Emily had chosen to take a table for two next to the indoor river.

After ordering some empanadas con chorizo and queso fundido as appetizers, Luke faced the couple across the table and stepped into some tricky waters.

"So how long have you two been together?"

At the question Payson wished she had ordered a strong drink like Kelly had. Although based on her former teammate's face, the alcohol from the Wild Passion Fruit Margarita was not enough the help.

Luke also noticed Kelly's expression and backpedaled, "Sorry, I'm not always sure what I'm supposed to know and what I'm not."

"What do you mean?" Kelly asked, grabbing onto the deflection from the original question.

"You guys have known each other for so long. There are things that you know about each other's lives that you take for granted. It's a good thing to know each other that well but sometimes the outsiders like myself have a harder time keeping up," Luke finished with grin to show no hard feelings.

Kelly glanced down at her drink before meeting Payson's eyes. "I haven't done a good job of keeping up with the Olympians but you're right, Luke, at least about some of us knowing each other well. Payson didn't look surprised when she saw me with Nicky even though we haven't been a couple for long."

"Officially," Nicky put in. "Three weeks today."

"You promised not to make a big deal," Kelly muttered. Nicky squeezed her hand and then let go, saying, "Keeping count is not a big deal. Now when I call the waitress over and ask her if it can be announced to everyone eating."

Kelly glared at her boyfriend who winked. The brunette shook her head although her eyes danced at the man before looking back at Payson. "Anyway, you knew me better than I did. You knew Nicky and I were going to get together, didn't you?"

Payson shrugged. "You two are good for each other. You know how to make each other smile, you can handle each other's anger, you've been there to support the other one. It just took you awhile to get here."

"How long of awhile?" Luke asked.

"Four years," Kelly said as Nicky answered, "Six."

Luke's expression was bemused as Nicky further explained. "I started asking her out six years ago but she kept turning me down. It wasn't until after the Olympic Trials that she accepted."

"I figured my mom couldn't be any angrier about me dating than she was about me not making the team," Kelly replied lightly despite a touch of hurt in her eyes.

Nicky's eyes were far less guarded, the anger obvious. "I still wish you'd let me talk to Shelia just once."

"It wouldn't change anything," Kelly pointed out.

"Probably not," Nicky conceded. "But she did a number on you. Made it so hard for you to trust."

"My mom was a single parent," Kelly said, filling in Luke in. "She was heavily invested in my potential as a gymnast."

"But not as her daughter," Luke guessed. Kelly nodded, and Payson's mind flashed over the progression of Kelly through their competition years from an arrogant youngster interested only in winning not in building connections to the still-gifted teenager who had finally discovered that she had worth beyond a gym. Payson may have had the demons of her broken back to fight, but Kelly had struggled with the demons of broken self-worth.

"It took months for Kelly to stop doubting herself and then years to be willing to really let me in," Nicky added.

Luke shook his head. "I've never understood those parents who get so focused on what a kid can do that they forget to show that they love the kid simply for who he or she is. I'm so glad my parents supported my gymnastics' successes but at the end of the wanted me growing as a person more than having a growing medal count."

"You were a gymnast?" Nicky asked.

"A long time ago," Luke replied, a slight twist to his mouth.

"College wasn't that far back," Payson protested.

"My Olympic dreams were a little older than that," Luke replied, the grimace still playing on the edges of his mouth.

"You were training for the Olympics? I thought Austin was the only guy with gold medal dreams-" Nicky said, the surprise in his voice echoed by the expression in his eyes, a look that quickly took on some pain following what Payson realized was an elbow jab to his side.

"Some tact," Kelly muttered, ignoring the indignant look her boyfriend shot her. She instead turned a brilliant smile on Luke. "So what was college gymnastics like? I never got the chance to experience it, my mother having sold my soul to sponsors when I had barely become a teenager."

Somehow Kelly's question coupled with her own admission of loss was the right thing to say. With only one short reference to how Austin's success made all the other athletes in the family feel a bit insecure at times, Luke eased into retelling adventures from his collegiate days: the competitions, the tough practices, the thrill of new skills conquered, and a few of the crazy things co-eds did when the coaches weren't looking.

"Your pre-meet sleep-overs were so different than what Payson here experienced at the Rock the night before a big meet," Kelly smirked after Nicky had asked how often teammates tried dating each other, and Luke had replied that while most of them hadn't officially coupled up, hotel rooming the night before away meets often had ended up with a few gymnasts not in their assigned beds.

Luke paused in his reaching for one more _taco de carne_. "Hey, I was just telling you about my teammates. If my coaches needed to find me, I was always in the right room."

"Ah, but was your roommate always the assigned one?"

Luke snorted, "Of course not."

Kelly smirked and Luke blanched before correcting the statement, "I mean, my roommate sometimes was one of the ones that went to another room, not that I had somebody extra with me."

"Uh huh," Kelly just grinned. "Far more fun than sleeping on the gym mats, wouldn't you say, Payson?"

"More comfortable at least," she replied, not wanting to push Luke into any more of an awkward position. Inwardly, she had to admit she had followed the exchange with more interest than just as a friend. Luke and she had talked a little last summer about past relationships, and it had seemed to Payson that Luke was thoughtful about his dating, that he wasn't going to just have fun with someone. This conversation helped reconfirm that impression.

"So dating anybody right now?" Kelly did not share Payson's same desire to let Luke out of being put under the relationship spotlight.

"Kelly!" Payson said, her voice a bit sharp. "That's none of your business!"

"That doesn't really matter to me, you know that." She turned back towards Luke, "So is there someone back home pining over your absence?"

Luke chuckled, "If there is, I don't know about it. I'm not interested in dating anyone I know back in Colorado."

"Hmm." Kelly's eyes flickered to Payson but the arrival of the waiter checking if they needed anything else interrupted that chain of thought. Nicky asked for their bills, the action further derailing Kelly's line of questioning as the conversation shifted to a discussion of what Disney attractions were up next in the afternoon's touring.


	25. Snowgies

Lunch paid for, the group exited the Mexican pyramid and started towards the left. Bright mariachi music—guitars, trumpets—paused their progress, the group of about a half dozen men putting on a lively performance.

"Come on," Luke gave a small tug to Payson's hand after about five minutes. "Our FastPasses for Frozen have started."

Payson wasn't quite sure how Disney did it, but as they followed the lagoon from Mexico to Norway, she could swear the temperature dropped. Maybe it was in the theming; the brown wood in the Nordic style and the evergreen shrubbery certainly brought cooler climes to mind.

"Something smells sweet," Jordan said, turning left at a building with a steep roofline.

"Replica stave church," Luke murmured quickly to Payson who was staring up at the building and its architecture. Then he turned his attention to Jordan, "Kringla Bakeri is right over there. If we hadn't just had lunch, I'd be suggesting a detour inside."

"I would definitely be agreeing," Jordan grinned. "What's their specialty?"

"School bread, I guess."

"School bread?"

"That doesn't sound very fun," Austin said. Kaylie gave her boyfriend a half-hearted elbow to his side.

"You do realize most of us are in school?"

"Yes, love, but you know I never enjoyed sitting at a desk."

Kaylie just shook her head although her eyes twinkled.

"And you'd probably like this use of the word school," Luke said. "It's a dessert that has coconut on top and cream on the inside."

"I do like the sound of that," Austin grinned. They had reached the FastPass entrance to Frozen Ever After by now and everyone reached for their tickets.

Everyone except Lauren that was.

"I need to see your FastPass," the attendant said to the blonde who had simply followed Jake, her eyes affixed on her phone. She was typing furiously, not paying attention to her surroundings. Payson wondered how long the woman had tuned them all out.

"Babe," Jake said.

Lauren kept typing.

"Babe," he repeated, this time putting a hand on her elbow.

"Give me a minute," she muttered.

"I need your FastPass," he prodded.

"Hold on."

"We're at the attendant."

Lauren looked up and glared. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I did," Jake said, his tone even. "When we were walking past the bakery, I tried to get your attention."

"Bakery?" Lauren scrunched her nose in confusion as she casually showed her FastPass to the attendant. At that point Payson decided to shift her attention to the conversation in front of her where Luke was describing his favorite food from the bakery, a pretzel covered in almond slices. She wanted to focus on her friends that were enjoying the trip, not bickering.

Since they had used FastPasses, it did not take the group long to get past Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and to the loading station.

"I like the styling of the boat," Payson said, her eyes taking in the designs on the wooden-like vehicle.

Kaylie spoke up, a sharp edge to her voice, "Lauren, watch your step!"

Payson glanced over just in time to see Jake grip Lauren's elbow tightly as her feet teetered. Payson noticed the bright screen of Lauren's phone and sighed, realizing what had distracted the woman.

"I'm good!" Lauren bit back but then softened her voice when she turned to Jake, "Thanks."

With a soft whoosh, the boat floated forward and into the mouth of a cave that led into the attraction. Blue light filled the air as Olaf and Sven appeared along with the tunes of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" The amicable snowman welcomed the visitors to the Winter Festival celebration. Next, they encountered Grand Pabbie telling the story of Anna and Kristoff to young trolls gathered in a circle around him. Then the boat glided along past drifting snowflakes, Nordic chanting providing the musical background. Glimpses of an icy castle ahead teased them, but before Payson could see much more, their boat drifted into another tunnel, and they passed by a skating Olaf, only one chubby leg supporting his gliding motion. Redheaded Anna and blonde Kristoff in winter clothing were up next, Anna singing happily as Kristoff played an oval-shaped guitar.

"Poor Sven," Luke murmured to her, and Payson giggled at the sight of the reindeer with his tongue stuck on an ice crystal.

"He'll figure an escape out."

"I'm sure."

The music shifted then with Elsa and her well-known "Let It Go" appearing. The music continued as they flowed down a tunnel full of glittering images before floating into another cavern space.

"Wasn't that snowman vicious in the movie?" Payson said as the snow creature emerged from a snowbank on their right.

"Marshmallow is really just a big softie," Luke replied. "See all the Snowgies?"

"Snowgies?"

He pointed, "The mini-snowmen."

"Oh." Payson looked closer at the dozen or so mini-versions of the snow monster, but just then Marshmallow spit out a huge breath of icy air. "Oh!"

Payson's surprised exclamation was only one several quick shrieks as their boat slipped down a watery hill—backwards. They bumped to a splash landing by the castle of Arendelle where fireworks were blitzing the night sky with light. One more look at the princess sisters standing hand-in-hand behind a joyful Olaf and then their boat entered the unloading station.

"That was adorable!" Kaylie gushed, the group walking out of the attraction.

"The lyrics were different than the movie in some spots," Kelly said. The others stopped in their tracks to stare at the petite woman. Luke, not realizing the out-of-character statement, nearly knocked Payson over but managed to sidestep her.

"You saw Frozen?" Kaylie managed to ask.

"Everybody did, didn't they?" Kelly answered, her eyes narrowing.

Lauren snorted, "But not everyone saw it enough to know the lyrics by heart."

Kelly shrugged, "So I watched it a few times."

"You watching Disney movies?" Lauren pushed. "You, the queen of bi-"

"Hey," Nicky interjected. "If Kelly wants to watch a Disney movie, she can."

"It's just not who she is," Lauren protested.

"We haven't spoken in years, Lauren," Kelly pointed out. "You don't know who I've become in that time."

Lauren glared but just then her phone buzzed. She pulled the cellular device out and glared again before looking back at the group. "Well, as interesting as a debate on how people can change would be, I have to deal with an issue at work."

With that comment she started moving again, her feet leading her out of the pavilion back towards to the lagoon. Jake gave an apologetic smile and followed after her.

"Well, I guess it's on to China," Kaylie said slowly. Payson could tell that her former teammate was trying to stay positive. She forced a small smile onto her face as well and then turned to Kelly.

"So is Frozen your favorite Disney cartoon or is there another princess you admire more?"

The rest of the group held their breath for a long moment as Kelly just stared at Payson. Then, the edge of her mouth quirked up into a half smile and she chuckled.

"I see what you're doing, Keeler, trying to get all my secrets."

Payson swore she felt the group relax at Kelly's comment, and she let herself grin as the group picked up conversation again.


	26. Traveled the World but Saw So Little

Payson found their visit to the next pavilion relaxing from the moment they approached the brightly-colored gate with its four red columns and golden roof. The group passed through one of the three wide openings, Nicky craning his neck up to take in the architecture.

"Watch yourself," Kelly warned her boyfriend. "I do not want to end up at the ER because you got distracted by some building design."

Nicky grinned brightly and did turn his attention back to where he was walking. "The Chinese have some really amazing architectural elements."

"Oh?" Kelly prompted.

"Did you know that even though there have been major earthquakes in the Forbidden City area, the buildings have survived pretty much intact? They actually built a small scale model of one of the buildings on top of a pad that could simulate earthquakes and pushed it all the way up to a 10 on the Richter scale and the building still stood!"

"Isn't that supposed to be a really awful earthquake?" Jordan asked, now dropping back to the conversation.

"I thought they used something else besides the Richter scale now?" Luke asked.

"There are other scales that seismologists use for more detailed measurements of earthquakes but the Richter scale is what the general public relates to the best," Emily spoke up.

Jordan focused on Emily, "You seem to know a lot about earthquakes."

"Well, when I moved into a state that's had a few big ones, I decided that I wanted to know more than just the basics about earthquakes," Emily replied. "So I watched some TED-talks and then took a short online learning course through the local library on them."

Payson smiled at Emily's continued pursuit of knowledge. The woman had always been smart with a wide range of interests; she was glad to see that becoming a mother had not pulled Emily away from her love of learning. Payson had worked hard to stay out of gym gossip, but she had not been able to completely avoid overhearing some disparaging remarks about the likelihood of her former teammate being able to do much more than chase after a toddler.

"So living in California explains why you know about earthquakes," Jordan said to Emily and then eyed Nicky. "You live on the East Coast, what's with your interest in them?"

"Oh, it's not earthquakes actually," Kelly answered for him. "Nicky is studying architecture in college."

As the group murmured in response to that reveal, Payson realized with a small jolt that even though they had been together for almost two days now, this was the first time anyone had really delved into what Nicky was up to now besides sticking by Kelly. Granted that was part of his personality. Nicky knew how to smile for the press and answer questions as well as the rest of them, but he rarely offered information on its own. Now that Payson thought about it, leading up to and following the Olympics, Nicky had always done a brilliant job of keeping the questions focused on the gymnastics side of his life, never the personal unlike the women's team whose off-the-apparatus-lives had received almost as much attention as their medal-winning performances.

"You've chosen a degree program?" Austin asked.

Nicky nodded. "I'm not sure if I'll stay in school after the summer or go back to training full-time since I've been given the clear from my injury, but I'm really enjoying the major."

Payson felt another grin growing. Nicky's determined drive for Olympic gold had certainly matched hers. While her career had ended after London, he had continued on—until a devastating ACL injury in the floor final at Nationals last summer. Payson had been watching the event on TV when the mishap occurred and had immediately known he would be out of competition for some time if not forever. It was good to see that he had found another passion.

Nicky continued to discuss his latest architecture class as they wandered through the China pavilion their steps taking them along a white pathway leading through a garden marked with reflecting ponds. To their left was another golden-roofed building, but Payson's attention focused on the building in front of them. The three detailed blue tiers of the replica of the Hall of Good Prayer for Harvests from the Temple of Heaven complex in Beijing provided a beautiful representation of Chinese symbolism in architectural design. It also supplied the entrance and waiting area for the attraction in this country, a movie named Reflections of China.

Their timing worked well with the next showing starting in less than five minutes. While the others settled in one spot to keep talking, Payson and Luke wandered around the space admiring the careful attention Imagineers had given to the importance of numbers in Chinese culture.

Lauren, on the other hand, seemed to be admiring the face of her cellphone. So much that when the doors opened for them to proceed into the theater, she waved them ahead.

"I'll catch you guys on the other side."

"You're not going to watch the movie?" Jake asked. His voice was calm but his shoulders were tighter than earlier.

"It's just a movie," Lauren replied, dismissively, glancing up for barely a second. "I'm having issues with getting one of my designs from the computer to a sample piece. Apparently without me there, they can't make decisions on their own."

Jake looked like he wanted to argue but instead he just shook his head and motioned for the others to follow him to where a Circle-Vision 360o movie was waiting.

"Lauren is being quite a piece of work," Kelly muttered to Payson, her eyes on Jake who was grinning at something Austin had just said yet still looked disappointed.

Payson sighed, "I'm not sure where her head is right now, but I'm not going to let her distract me from enjoying this time."

"Good policy," Kelly agreed. Payson's plan seemed to be the same one her friends all individually agreed on as well as they watched Li Bai, an ancient Chinese poet, guide them past several wonders in China such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. After that they glanced at the museum exhibit in the House of the Whispering Willows Gallery before wandering through the House of Good Fortune and its merchandise. Nearly all the women were tempted to buy something although only Kaylie succumbed and walked away with her favorite item: a stuffed panda.

"I really liked this pavilion even if it didn't have an attention-grabbing ride," Payson said to Luke as they took one final look around.

"Is it as good as the real thing?" he joked although Payson's face turned serious.

"I don't know."

"Didn't you compete in China?"

She nodded slowly. "I did."

"So you've been there."

Payson grunted, "And spent 99% of my time either in our hotel or the gyms where we trained and competed."

"Really?"

"Well, maybe only 95%. We did eat at a restaurant or two not in those places. Oh, and the airport arriving and leaving."

"So not much tourist time."

Payson shook her head. "Some of the other athletes took a half day early and then a day after the competition to see some sights but I was too focused on my gymnastics."

She paused and then added, "I traveled the world but saw so little of it."

Luke just reached over and squeezed her hand. "Plenty of time to travel it now."


	27. So Hopeful

After crossing a bridge, the group passed by the Outpost with its African theming on their way to the Germany pavilion. Nicky was immediately struck by the middle European architecture. With the hand not holding Kelly's, he pointed at the steep gables, stone arches above lower windows, and dark wood overlays contrasting against lighter walls. He kept his voice low, probably not to bother the others with information they might not find as interesting.

"So Germany is supposed one of the better pavilions for shopping," Kaylie said, leaning towards Lauren as she emphasized the last word.

Lauren looked up from her phone. "Really?"

Kaylie nodded, "Yep, there are a variety of specialty shops."

'I'd be a lot more interested if she said specialty beers," Austin muttered.

"Didn't you have a beer for lunch?" Kelly asked, Nicky done for the moment with his architectural spiel.

"No," Austin replied.

"No one at our table had alcohol," Kaylie added helpfully.

"Oh, ok then," Kelly said, putting on a casual expression.

"You had something, didn't you?" Austin pressed.

Kelly shrugged, "Might've enjoyed a margarita."

"Might have?"

Kelly simply flashed a semi-smug grin just as Jake commented, "A margarita at lunch would've been nice."

"Didn't you enjoy lunch?" Lauren asked, her voice sharp.

"The food was good but the conversation was repetitive," Jake admitted.

Eyes slitted, Lauren said, "We talked about my business at lunch. Don't you want to talk about my growing company?"

Jake put a hand on her arm to try to calm the woman as her volume picked up. "Babe, I know your line is important to you but it's almost all we've talked about in the last month. A change of topic can be nice."

"Speaking of a change of topic," Kaylie interrupted and then faltered as Lauren turned a raised eyebrow towards her.

Kelly stepped in between the glaring couple, "How about the guys and girls split for this pavilion?" She turned a brilliant if slightly fake smile on Lauren. "Unless you honestly think Jake would prefer shopping with all us ladies over nursing a beer?"

Lauren rolled her eyes but nodded, "Can't believe I'm saying this but Parker is right."

"Hear that?" Kelly smirked.

Lauren appeared ready to snap at the tiny woman, but Austin quickly spoke up, "So we'll meet back here in front of this clock?"

"Glockenspiel," Luke supplied. Then as the others looked at him, he continued, "Actually I would suggest that we meet in front of the Karamell-Kuche shop."

"Ok," Austin agreed and the others nodded. The men headed towards Biergarten while the women started ducking into the eight small shops such as the Stein Haus and Weinkellar. The two stores that engaged them the longest were Die Weinachts Ecke with its holiday wares and then Der Teddybar.

"This is perfect for Sophie's birthday," Kelly grinned, picking up a small box. Payson peered over her shoulder to look at the miniature desserts inside.

"How old?"

"Six in June," Kelly answered, "and no, you aren't forgetting about someone in my family. Sophie is Nicky's niece. His brother and wife finalized the adoption two years ago."

As Kelly walked up to the register, Payson noticed that Kaylie was also in line, a stuffed bear in her hand as she chatted with Lauren. Emily stood a little ways back, an odd look on her face.

"You ok?"

Emily nodded and then shook her head, "I don't know."

Payson tilted her head.

"You see that bear?" Emily gestured towards the one in Kaylie's hand.

"Yeah."

"That's for my son."

Payson's eyes widened, "For your son?"

Emily nodded slowly. "She saw me looking at it and offered to buy it as a long-overdue baby shower gift."

"You hadn't heard from Kaylie in so long before this trip. Did she say why she wanted to do that?"

Emily paused and then said, "You know how you all went on Mission Space and Kaylie and I went over to Innoventions?"

"Yeah."

"Kaylie was good about keeping things casual most of the time," Emily said slowly. "But about halfway through the time, she asked if she could be serious for a few minutes. I agreed. She said she was sorry about everything that happened with Damon, that she regrets how she behaved. How she should have reached out and been supportive."

"Believe her?"

"I, I," Emily hesitated, "and then just now, she seemed so honest about it, so hopeful that I would let her, I couldn't say no."

"It's ok not to be sure of how you feel," Payson said, giving her friend a quick side-hug.

"Thanks," Emily smiled back even if the curve of her lips stayed small.

However, that grin grew when they met back up with the men at Luke's chosen shop; it specialized in caramel treats.

"Time for a snack, I think?" Austin suggested. No one raised an argument.

Payson agreed to split a treat with Luke, and he offered the first bite of the caramel S'more to her. Kelly and Nicky also shared their afternoon snack of a Caramel Apple Oatmeal cookie.

"Oh, this is so good!" Jordan exclaimed after one taste of her Caramel Filled Chocolate cookie. "Andre would love this."

"Andre?" Kaylie paused in her swiping of Austin's chocolate-caramel drizzled popcorn.

"One of my co-stars."

"That all?"

Jordan blushed and took another bite of her cookie.

"You're among friends here, Jordan. It's safe to tell," Kaylie said. Payson found herself interested in Jordan's answer after what had been an apparent interest in Luke earlier.

Jordan still hesitated. "The tabloids are terrible sometimes especially with relationships. The fewer people that know…"

"The easier it is to keep something quiet," Kelly said.

"And safe," Kaylie finished. She had a sympathetic look on her face. "We get it. Don't say anything more than you want."

Jordan smiled gratefully, "I appreciate it."

"Well, if any tabloid photogs have been around, I'm sure you've kept them fooled," Lauren commented. "You had me thinking you were interested in Luke."

"Really?" Jordan's eyebrow's scrunched together a little just as Luke's eyes widened. "I was just trying to be friendly. Remember I know what it's like to be the outsider with you guys and I at least had gymnastics in common."

"He," Austin started.

"Is very grateful," Luke cut in with a large smile towards Jordan.

"Of course," she returned the grin. Payson gave a questioning look towards Luke as the other girls started to reminisce about those first few days at the TC and meeting Jordan.

"Still keeping that secret?"

Luke rubbed the back of his head, "Like I said, it just doesn't seem like something worth bringing up."

Payson opened her mouth to counter, but Luke popped the S'more in her mouth. She chewed the sweet bite before saying, "Ok, I'll drop it for now, but this topic isn't done."

"Ok," Luke mumbled, his mouth full of the caramel treat.

"I think we've seen all that Germany has to offer," Austin spoke up.

"Is that a hint you're ready to move on?"

"Well, we're not even halfway around the lagoon, right?"

"Right," Luke said, "but Germany has one more surprise."

With a grin he led them beyond the buildings and then gestured to their left, away from the lagoon.

"Oh, wow!"

"Cool!"

"That is an awesome miniature railroad!" Jake enthused. Several small trains chugged around the German landscape which was a mix of small shrubs and buildings. A path cut through the viewing space, and everyone but Lauren headed that way. Lauren stayed back on the main walkway, her phone once again taking her attention.

Payson located a delicate church while Jake pointed out an adorable little depot complete with barrels ready for delivery. Kaylie cooed over the tiny houses around a central gazebo while Nicky and Austin had fun leaning from side to side of the walkway to watch trains disappear and emerge from a tunnel underpass.

"So Germany has two castles," Jordan said. "The one in the back of the area where we just were and that one."

Payson followed her teammate's finger towards the stocky, red stone structure. Nowhere near as fantastical as the famous Neuschwanstein that had inspired Walt Disney, the building nonetheless had that regal feeling to it.

"Is Germany hiding anything else?" Austin asked Luke a minute or two later.

Luke shook his head, "Not that I know of."

"Andiamo in Italia!"

"Translation?" Kelly asked.

"Let's go to Italy!"


	28. Polka? Really?

Like the pavilion for Germany, the one for Italy offered only shops and eateries along with some basic entertainment. However, after Kaylie threw her hands out wide in front of an 83-foot belltower near the entrance for Austin to take a picture, the group followed a different touring pattern than the previous pavilion. This visit turned into a laid-back photo shoot, taking advantage of the gorgeous architecture offered by the replica of St. Mark's Square and other Venetian landmarks.

All the girls standing in front of Neptune's Fountain. Then individual close-up shots of each girl in the same spot. Kelly had rolled her eyes at the request but Kaylie insisted that it would make for a great collage later.

The boys standing outside Via Napoli right underneath the Pizzeria sign, their faces showing puppy dog longing for the treat.

Lauren and Kaylie almost drooling over some Pulicati leather purses, then Jake and Austin grinning widely next to Ferrari merchandise, and finally Kelly looking faux innocent surrounding by wine bottles.

Emily in a white arch of the replica Doge palace, the sunlight illuminating her face just right against the shadowy background. Jordan in front of a white angel statue against a background of flowers.

Even the romance of Venice was captured with a few images of the couples standing on a bridge with bright gondolas in the background. Austin and Kaylie quickly agreed to Jordan's suggestion for the pose; Lauren put on a bright face and pulled Jake to the spot next. Kelly glared at Jordan when the woman turned towards her but put up no protest when Nicky gently tugged her towards the water.

"Oh, Kelly, that's so sweet," Payson couldn't help commenting as she watched the photo appear on Jordan's phone screen.

Kelly scowled, "Uh huh? Your turn."

"My turn?"

Kelly just deepened her scowl. "Keeler, you seriously just called me sweet. Your turn for a photo."

"But-"

"Now!" Kelly barked, waving her hands at both Payson and Luke.

Payson stood there, but Luke wrapped an arm around her waist and steered her in the direction of the gondolas.

"I think you should stop trying to argue with her," he murmured in her ear.

"Fine," Payson huffed although the twinkling in her eyes proved that she wasn't annoyed by the situation. Not that she would admit it out loud but she was feeling pretty content at the moment, her body wrapped against Luke's.

The happy glow stayed with Payson as the group walked over towards the pavilion for the United States. The walking motion caused Luke to slip his arm from her waist, but his hand slid right over hers, keeping their physical connection intact.

"So what's the big draw here?" Jordan asked the main building of their national pavilion came into view.

"An Animatronic show called The American Adventure," Luke explained. "We sit in a theater while Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain take us through major moments in our country's history."

"If that's what's in the big building to the left," Emily waved at the brick building before gesturing to the right of the walkway, "what is in the amphitheater on the lagoon?"

"Just random musical shows," Kaylie replied quickly.

"With Disney music?"

Kaylie shook her head," No, more like local groups doing their stuff."

"Well, Disney does bring in famous names to perform," Luke replied.

"Hmm," Emily mused, turning towards the sign that displayed a schedule," Wonder if today is anyone good?"

"Nope," Austin jumped into the conversation just as Payson thought she caught Kaylie throwing a glare Luke's way. She tilted her head at the Hispanic woman, but Kaylie ignored her instead rejoining the conversation.

"We saw the name on something earlier this morning. Not a style of music you would enjoy."

Emily's eyes narrowed and Payson wondered if all the goodwill Kaylie had managed to earn back earlier had just been vaporized by her authoritative comment. "How would you know what type of music I like?"

Kaylie's expression looked contrite, "I don't for sure but we did spend a lot of time together in the gym. Besides, I didn't just mean you. It was something that I don't think any of us are into."

"Oh?"

"Polka," Austin said quickly and Kaylie nodded, looking a bit relieved.

"Polka? Really?" Kelly sounded as skeptical as Payson was beginning to feel.

"Yep!" Kaylie nodded brightly. "Now how about we go get in line for the American Adventure?"

Payson almost protested the move indoors; Kaylie was once again hiding something and she didn't like it. However, as they shifted towards the building, Kaylie snagged her elbow.

"Pay, please don't cause a scene," she muttered.

"What?"

"I can see it on your face, and you're right, I'm not telling the whole truth about the show at the amphitheater today."

Payson exhaled, "Kaylie, you know better."

"Please, just trust me on this. We do not want to see the guy performing there."

"Who-" Payson started to ask just as Emily turned around.

The young mother shook her head at them. "Kaylie, you're the one who suggested we keep moving and now you're still just standing in the same spot."

Kaylie laughed although it sounded forced to Payson. "Got caught up chatting with Payson, I guess."

Payson followed Kaylie closely, fully intending on interrogating her further once they had settled in the lobby to wait for the show. However, acapella music filled the air and provided Kaylie with the perfect excuse to be quiet.

"You look a bit annoyed," Luke murmured, wrapping an arm around Payson's waist.

She sighed and whispered back, "Kaylie is hiding something, and she's using this medieval singing group to avoid me."

"Colonial," Luke corrected her.

Payson's mouth twitched, "Oh, that was such a dumb mistake."

"Don't worry so much," Luke said. "Kaylie is a grown woman and can make her own choices."

"This doesn't feel like her usual hiding though," Payson protested. "It's almost like she's trying to protect someone, but I don't see how mus-oh no."

Slightly resentful at needing to leave the wonderful crook of Luke's arm, Payson disentangled herself from his hold and strode towards Kaylie. Just then though, the crowd shifted as the theater was announced ready to enter. Payson pushed forward, determination in each step.

"Kaylie," she hissed. "You have to tell me who's singing in the amphitheater."

"Payson, please," the other woman muttered back, "Trust me when I say the singing-" Kaylie broke off as she realized that Payson had identified the performer as a vocalist.

"Please tell me I'm wrong," Payson said.

"Payson, are you holding up the line for me?" Emily's voice cut into the conversation. Payson just barely managed to hold in a startled yelp; Kaylie's eyes widened so much that under less serious conditions, Payson would have laughed.

Emily continued, oblivious to her former teammate's consternation. "I mean, I thought you'd be able to pick our seats but I guess I can do it." Her smile faltered as the other two women did not respond to her teasing tone.

Payson hurried to restore Emily's positive mood. "That would be great."

"Something wrong?"

"Not really, Em," Kaylie spoke up. "Payson's just being a mother hen again."

Emily smiled, a knowing look replacing the wary one in her eyes. "Payson, you always did look out for us, but Kaylie is an adult now. She can take care of herself just like the rest of us." She turned to walk into the auditorium but then threw a mischievous glance over her shoulder. "Unless it involves picking out seats."

Payson moved to follow her friend but also turned back although her comment was kept low enough for Kaylie's ears only. "You're not the one I'm worried about."

"I know," Kaylie agreed, her voice also quiet although Payson thought she also caught a glimpse of relief in her friend's dark eyes.

As the theater lights dimmed and the audience quieted, the thoughts in Payson's mind ignored the calming cue. While visions of the earliest European settlers including the Pilgrims glowed on the screen, the churning of ideas only grew. Payson managed to reel her attention back in when George Washington made an appearance at a snowy Valley Forge but by the time two brothers debated their opposing viewpoints just before the Civil War, she was back to wondering how Kaylie planned on keeping the name of the amphitheater performer a secret. Susan B. Anthony pulled Payson back into the story on stage until a tendril curled out of the roiling mess in her mind.

 _"Kaylie was too relieved when you pointed out that she wasn't the one you were worried about. You thought something was off earlier. This isn't just about keeping a performer's name secret."_

Payson twisted and turned these thoughts around, unable to let go of the nagging feeling that she was overlooking something. Guilt twinged in her stomach when she realized the rollcall of American history had extended to Pearl Harbor without her noticing. Refocused, Payson watched as scenes and characters from modern history such as the Civil Rights movement, the lunar landing, JFK, Elvis, and even Walt Disney played out against the soaring background music of "Golden Dream." Despite the frustrating line of her thoughts, she let a small smile linger on her lips as the show wrapped up with the two narrators Twain and Franklin standing beside the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

"I'd say they did a pretty good job of highlighting American history in forty minutes," Luke said, catching Payson's hand on their exit back into the sunlight.

"It was good," Payson replied, hoping he didn't push for her opinion on any details. A minute later though, she found herself wishing that admitting inattention during a Disney show was the hardest part of her day.

"Emily?" Lauren called. She and Jake had been walking a short bit ahead of the main group, and Payson's stomach dropped when she noticed that the blonde was near the amphitheater.

"Yes?"

"Do you keep up with Damon's touring schedule?"

Emily's expression waffled between shock at Lauren being so forward in bringing up her ex-boyfriend's name and confusion at why he was being mentioned now.

"Oh god," the murmured groan from Kaylie on her right told Payson that she was on her own on finding options for damage control; while having Lauren kidnapped by some Disney villains certainly gave her happy thoughts, that solution was not realistic.

"Damon's touring schedule?" Emily repeated.

"Yeah, you know, where's he's performing?" Lauren continued. Her face held a pleasant expression, but Payson knew there was nothing pleasant behind Lauren's choice of conversation.

"Damon's professional obligations are none of my concern," Emily replied, the response sounding rehearsed to Payson, and she suddenly realized that Emily had needed to field that question before, most likely from the media pursuing inside access to the singer.

 _"How many times have you had to put your personal pain aside and be the professional? We don't think about Damon anymore except as the father of your son but for the past four years you have had to always be alert to the press."_

She moved to put an arm around Emily's shoulders, to try to soften the blow that Lauren was preparing to deliver. However, just then a voice spoke up from behind the group.

"Emily? Thank goodness I found you!"


	29. I've Got Her

Payson twisted around to face the unknown voice. Despite her casual dress, the late-thirty-something woman conveyed authority and initiative, the combination telling Payson's gut that she was looking at a PR agent. However, figuring out the pixie-cut woman's role only confused the blonde gymnast. Emily led a private life; why did she need a PR person?

"Why haven't you answered my voicemail?" the woman said to Emily, her tone direct, her eyes lasered in on only the other woman.

Her mouth dropped open, Emily stared at the woman for a long minute before blinking twice and replying, "Did you follow me on vacation? Just because I wasn't answering my voicemail?"

The other woman raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. We were going to be here anyway."

"We?"

"Damon obviously." The PR lady drew out her answer slowly, confusion replacing the condescension of her earlier reply.

"Damon's here?"

The woman sighed and Payson guessed that behind her dark sunglasses, an eyeroll was happening. "Ok, I get that you two don't really communicate much although for life of me I can't understand why not, but you're standing right in front of the venue where he's performing for the next three days. There's a sign just behind you with his name on it!"

Emily waved a hand towards the amphitheater. "Damon's performing there? But what about the pol-" She stopped in mid-question and turned to face Kaylie.

"Emily, I'm-"

"There's no polka group performing there, is there?" she interrupted Kaylie's attempt.

Kaylie just shook her head.

"You lied."

Kaylie opened her mouth and then shut it, the woman settling for a simple nod instead of a defense.

"Kaylie, I've been dealing with Damon for the past four years," Emily said, a sharp edge growing in her voice. "You didn't need to hide this from me."

Kaylie stayed silent, but Emily forged ahead, her attention returning to the woman who had intruded on their group. "So, since you got lucky and our paths crossed, what is so important?"

"Damon wants me to give you a backstage pass."

"A backstage pass?" Emily repeated as the woman started to dig in her black messenger bag. "Camila, why does he want me to have that?"

Camila pulled the laminated card on a lanyard out of her bag and then shoved her sunglasses up so she could look Emily directly in the eyes. "Because he hasn't been the same since that fight you two had a month ago. Because you refuse to discuss anything besides your son with him over the phone. Because he misses you and wants to see you!"

Emily's lips separated again as she stared at Damon's agent. The woman pressed her lips together as she stared back at Emily before speaking again. "My job is to make sure that the career side of Damon's life goes smoothly, and I don't appreciate having to run interference between the two of you. Here is the pass, please find the time to talk to him before you leave Florida!" She reached the item out and Emily took it, the motion robotic.

"If you do decide to actually use the pass, please shoot me a text. Knowing your coming will make the meeting easier." She gave Emily a curt nod and then headed towards the amphitheater.

The group stood there until Lauren suddenly asked, "If Damon's agent is here, does that mean he's probably here too? I mean, here in EPCOT right now?"

"If you're hoping to see a confrontation, Lauren, you're going to be very disappointed," Emily said, ice dripping from her voice.

Lauren widened her eyes. "Why would you think that, Emily? I thought you two got along ok since you share a kid."

Emily winced as Jordan and Luke looked shocked at the reveal.

"Really, Lo?" Kaylie said. "That's a secret."

Lauren scoffed. "It's not that big of a secret. Anyone who follows Damon Young would know."

"Not everyone does!" Kaylie hissed.

"I don't need you protecting me, Kaylie," Emily said. "Polka? I'm a grown woman with a child. You could have told me that Damon was performing here."

"Emily," Kaylie started and then stopped, the pleading look disappearing from her face. "You're right. I was trying to protect you and that wasn't necessary."

Emily paused and then gave Kaylie a sharp nod. "I don't agree with what you did but I understand that you were trying to help me."

"She probably still feels guilty for what she did to you and Damon years ago," Lauren put in.

Emily turned a cold stare on Lauren. "And how about you? Do you feel guilt for anything you put people through?"

"What do you mean?" Lauren's blue eyes were wide.

Emily scoffed. "I can give you plenty of examples from our time in the gym together but let's just stick to this trip. Right now before Camila approached the group, you were trying extra hard to make sure that I knew that Damon was performing here."

"Maybe I just wanted the two of you to have a chance to reconnect."

"If you honestly thought that we got along well as you claimed a moment ago, you would have figured I already knew Damon was here and would have just come out and said it," Emily replied, her voice bordering on a hiss. "Instead you were playing with me, drawing the conversation out until your big reveal that Damon is here in Disney World with us!"

"Emily, I wasn't-"

"Don't even try lying your way out of this!" Emily snapped.

"Hey, I think we need to calm down," Jake tried stepping in and both women threw murderous glares at him.

"Jake does have a good point that you need to calm down," Payson said.

Emily snorted. "Of course, robot Payson doesn't think emotions are important."

Payson blinked at the harsh words. "Em, I don't want you to say something you'll regret."

"You really think I'd regret any of the truths I have to say to Lauren?" Emily asked, her voice rising.

"No but"

"No," Emily said. "I'm not going to stick around here and listen to you try to keep the peace. I really thought you'd finally learned."

She turned and started to walk away but Payson jogged after her. "Emily, where are you going?"

Emily's eyes were shining, tears in the bottom of them. "I can't stay around all of you right now. You have no idea how hard it is to stay strong. I can't do it right now, not if you're going to defend Lauren or even Kaylie."

"I'm not defending her," Payson protested. "I just don't want her to provoke you into doing something you'd regret."

Emily sighed. "Well, it feels like you're defending her."

"What if I just came with you?" Payson offered. "Not the whole group."

"I don't know."

"What about me?" Jordan suddenly joined the conversation. Payson glanced around but the rest of them was still hanging back a distance. "What if I went with you?"

"I don't want to ruin your day," Emily said quickly. "You barely know me."

"I know that you're important to these girls and I'm sure it's not hard to believe that they were everything to me when I didn't have anyone else," Jordan replied. "It's not ruining my day if I get to help you out."

"I might want to just go back to the room," she warned.

"That's fine," Jordan shrugged. "I've heard the pool is pretty nice."

Emily cracked a small smile. "You sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Ok then."

"Ok," Jordan grinned widely and then focused on Payson. "Go tell the others to take their time going over to Japan so we can get a head start—just in case you decide to stick around the park for a bit, Em."

"Thank you," Payson said and gave Jordan a hug.

Speaking low enough that Emily wouldn't overhear, the African-American woman murmured back, "Don't worry. I've got her."


	30. Japan

Payson watched as Emily and Jordan disappeared in the crowd. She trusted Jordan but there was still a pang of sorrow that Emily had to take a break from them.

"Let go of your worry," Luke said, his voice close to her ear.

She glanced over at him and then startled as he reached his fingers towards her face. "What are you doing?"

"Smoothing away your worry wrinkle," he smiled as he gently rubbed the skin between her eyebrows. "When you're bothered by something, you get a wrinkle right here."

"I didn't realize how much Emily still feels for Damon," Payson admitted. "Here I thought we were trying to protect her from something that was only hurt and yet the way she acted just now, she still really cares for him."

"Jordan will watch out for her," Luke assured her. Then his eyes catching sight of something behind her, he grimaced. "Besides I think you're needed here more at the moment."

Payson turned and saw Kelly glaring fiercely at Lauren, Kaylie looking shocked but defensive. Jake and Nicky hung back. "Of course. Never a dull moment."

"You have no right to act like you care about Emily!" Kelly was hissing. "I may not have grown up in the same gym as you but having learned manipulation from the best of them, I know when someone is just using someone else, and that's exactly what you were doing just now."

"Do you hear how rude she's being?" Lauren addressed Kaylie directly.

"She's only saying the truth, Lo," Kaylie replied quietly, hurt visible in her eyes.

Lauren shook her head. "Like you care about Emily yourself! You were shacking up with her baby daddy during what had to have been the hardest part of her life!"

Kaylie's eyes narrowed in anger. She stepped close to Lauren, and Payson wondered if she needed to make a move between the two women. "First of all, we weren't shacking up as you put it, but second, getting that close to Damon was a big mistake that I will always regret. I am so sorry that I hurt Emily and that's the difference between you and me. I want her to be ok. I want to see her happy. I do care about her."

"I'm not sure you care about anyone unless you can see what they can offer you," Kelly added.

"Kel," Nicky interjected.

Kelly rolled her eyes but said, "Fine, Lauren, maybe you do honestly care about other people but your actions can make that hard to believe."

Lauren's eyes shot daggers at the petite woman but Kelly stared back unintimidated. Payson finally broke the contest of wills.

"How about we walk over to Japan? Maybe take a little time to cool off?"

"I think I'm going to take the rest of the day to cool off!" Lauren snapped.

"Babe," Jake started and then stopped as she whirled on him.

"You didn't even try to defend me! I don't want to talk to you!" She turned to glare at the rest of the group. "Or any of you!"

And with those defiant words, she stalked off in the direction of Japan but nearly at a jog, definitely not at a tourist's pace.

Jake watched after her, his face clearly showing the conflict of whether he should follow his girlfriend or not.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Kaylie said, reading his mind. "I realize you've spent more time with her lately than us but I've known Lo practically her whole life."

"I know," the wrestler muttered. "She needs to blow off some steam."

"And you don't deserve to be her punching bag every time," Kaylie said, firmness in her voice.

Jake sighed, and Austin clapped him on the back. "It's going to all work out."

"Japan's up next?" Jake asked, changing the conversation.

"Yep," Kaylie replied, putting on a smile. The group walked along, pausing to take a closer look at the red torii gate sitting on the shore of the World Showcase Lagoon on the right. Then they turned to head into the pavilion area.

"Pretty," Payson said, tilting her head back to get a better look at the five stories of the blue-roofed building to the left.

"It's a replica of an old temple," Luke replied. The group meandered past Japanese maples and bamboo, their feet taking them over footbridges.

"Look at the fish!" Kaylie pointed the golden koi swimming in the streams.

"It's so peaceful," Austin said. "I mean we're in the middle of an amusement park and this place actually feels serene."

"Disney knows what they're doing," Luke replied. By now the group had reached the back part of the Japanese pavilion.

Kelly wrinkled her nose as she read the sign naming the exhibit in the art gallery. "Kawaii: Culture of Cute. I'm not sure how I feel about cute."

Payson laughed and tugged on the somewhat-cynical woman's arm. "Oh, now we have to go check it out!"

Kelly grumbled but let Payson lead her into the cooler space, the other five behind them.

A slightly-larger-than-life-size human sculpture stood out in the middle of the floor. The mix of rainbow colors beneath a pink overlay partnered with its lopsided pigtails certainly created the impression of a cute young girl. The same bright, joyful colors jumped out of the display cases around them.

"I think I might just wait outside," Kelly muttered, trying to turn around and finding her escape stymied by Payson taking one arm and Kaylie the other.

"Actually Kelly, I think you might like this," Nicky said, swooping in to take ahold of his girlfriend. He walked them over to a display of bedroom items and pointed to an item.

"A pink pillow?" Kelly asked, her voice deadpan.

"A pink pillow in the shape of some shark-like creature with other stuffed animals in its mouth," Nicky corrected.

Kelly glared at him and then the edge of her mouth quirked up. She stretched her neck to give him a quick peck on the lips. "I love how you get me."

They wandered around the exhibit space for ten or fifteen minutes. Payson thought the mannequin with pink eyebrows was a little creepy but along with Luke enjoyed viewing the mock-up kitchen with its interesting food choices. Austin and Kaylie had a mini-argument over the shower curtain. He thought it would be perfect for the master bath; she adamantly disagreed. However, they left the gallery with their fingers entwined, the disagreement far from serious.

"What else is here?" Nicky asked as they made their way past another koi pond.

"A big department store," Kaylie said. "Mitsukoshi."  
Luke added, "You can find a little bit of everything in there. Great place to shop for souvenirs."

"Or a scavenger hunt," Kaylie said, her eyes gleaming. Suddenly her ability to name the large store before the expert Luke made sense.

"A scavenger hunt?" Kelly sounded suspicious.

"I have a list of several items for sale in the store," Kaylie explained. "I thought we could break up in teams and take pictures on our phones when we find the items and then whoever is first could get a small prize."

"Is this fair?"

"Of course!"

"But you wrote the list!"

"But I've never been in the place," Kaylie protested.

"Let's give it a try," Nicky put in diplomatically. "How about we go for twenty minutes and see who has found the most items by the deadline?"

"I'm in," Jake replied quickly. Payson glanced at him. The man was still a bit subdued; she figured the scavenger hunt gave Jake something to focus on other than wondering how mad Lauren still was.

The rest of them also agreed, and they broke up into three teams: Austin and Kaylie, Payson and Luke, and then Kelly, Nicky, and Jake.

"Ok, I'm texting the list to you two, Payson and Kelly," Kaylie said, typing on her phone. "Did you get it?"

"Yep," Payson said, her eyes scanning over the list.

"Uh huh," Kelly sounded a little less enthused but she was also reading the items.

"Ok, then. See everybody in twenty minutes!" Kaylie hurried into the store with Austin beside her.

"Do you think she has some stash of secret perky pills?" Kelly asked.

Payson laughed. "Kayle was always the most optimistic of all of us. It's good to see she still has that joy."

"After everything she's been through," Kelly looked contemplative and then her eyes turned scheming. "Beat you inside!"

"How are we in last?" Luke asked as Kelly and Nicky darted ahead of them.

"We won't be for long," Payson promised and grabbing Luke's hand, set into the store.

Luke had been right on when he had said Mitsukoshi offered a huge range of souvenirs. The sound of water directed them to the Pick-a-Pearl where shoppers bought a clam that was then opened to reveal the precious gemstones.

"One down," Payson said as Luke snapped a photo of the booth. They had passed some books just before and they backtracked to scan the titles.

"Got it!" Luke said, and Payson peered over his shoulder to read the gardening words splayed across the front cover.

"I think I see a sword over there," she pointed. Luke followed the finger point and nodded.

"Let's get closer."

Payson hurried over and then found herself tapping her foot in impatience as Luke tried to figure out which one he wanted to photograph. "Remember we have a time limit?"

"But these are cool!" Luke waved a hand at the assortment which included several with very intricate designs carved into them.

Payson could not be upset at his enthusiasm especially when they found two more items—Tamagotchis and a Hello Kitty figurine—very quickly after that.

"Kimonos," Payson read the text.

"In the back," Luke said decisively.

"How do you know?"

Luke gave her a look. "Kaylie may not have been here before but I have."

Payson grinned and followed him towards the back of the store. In a room to the right she stopped short. "Oh wow, these are gorgeous!"

Luke took a quick shot of the kimonos on the rack, their colors shining.

"Ok, let me see what else we need," Payson started to glance down at phone.

"Why don't you hold a kimono that you like up to yourself?" Luke suggested.

"We don't have time," Payson said.

"Please." Luke turned puppy-dog eyes on her.

Payson smiled and let go of her competitive side. This was only a friendly game, no gold medals on the line. She glanced along the rack of hanging garments and then lifted out a royal-blue one, white and pink flowers breaking up the solid color.

Luke said nothing but his eyes sparkled with approval as she posed with the garment.

"Get the picture?" she asked after a moment.

"Beautiful," he said. Payson felt a slight blush on her cheeks as she put the kimono back on the rack.

Just then her phone buzzed. "Hey, we're out of time."

"Where are we supposed to be meeting?"

"Umm, Kelly just asked for everyone to meet at the sake bar in the back."

"Sake? There's a sake bar? How did I not know this?"

"Guess so." They headed out of the room to search for the rest of the group. It only took a minute or two but by the time they arrived, Kaylie and Austin had beat them.

"Ok, how many did you find?" Kaylie asked.

"Umm, six," Payson counted fast.

"We found eight!" Kaylie said and then turned to the trio of Nicky, Jake, and Kelly. "Well, how many did you find?"

They looked at each other guilty before Kelly spoke. "Two."

"Only two?" The disappointment was plain on Kaylie's face.

"We really were going to try," Kelly started. "We found our first one pretty quickly."

"But then we overheard someone mention the Sake Tasting Bar," Nicky came to his girlfriend's aid.

"And I love sake," Jake put in.

"And we felt bad for Jake after the whole Lauren incident," Kelly said. "So we thought we should check it out."

Kaylie stared at the trio for a long moment and then shook her head, a little smile forming. "As long as you had fun. That was the whole point of the scavenger hunt."

"Oh, this was fun," Kelly smirked as the other two grinned as well.

"Then I think we've had a successful visit to Japan!"


	31. I'm Ready

After their time in Japan the group headed into the pavilion built for Morocco. Since this pavilion did not have an attraction, the group decided to split up and explore on their own for about twenty minutes.

"Then we can meet at the Tangierine Café for dinner," Luke suggested.

"Moroccan food?" Kaylie sounded a little dubious.

"You'll like it," Luke assured her. Kaylie still looked unsure but she smiled as she hooked her arm into Austin's.

"Jake, want to go with us?" Kelly asked. She glanced over at Payson and Luke. "I'm assuming you two would like some couple time."

Payson opened her mouth to protest Kelly's labeling, but Luke spoke up.

"Appreciate it, Kelly. Some time to leisurely wander would be nice."

Kelly smirked and then turned to the other two men. "I think there's a place down on the waterfront we might enjoy."

Luke grinned as the three headed away.

"What was that about?" Payson asked.

"I believe that Kelly realized that the Spice Road Table serves alcohol. I personally haven't been there but I haven't heard anything bad about it."

"I meant letting her think that we're-"

"A couple?" Luke finished Payson's comment. She nodded. He reached out and took her hand. "I may not know Kelly very well but just going along with her opinion seemed like the fastest way to get to spend more time with you. I like you, Payson, and you like me. As much as I've enjoyed spending time with your friends and my cousin, I also want to get some time with just you."

"And not time when we're running around looking for random souvenirs?" she asked, remembering his point about a leisurely wander.

"Exactly. Now are you ready to see what Morocco has to offer?"

As they entered, the couple passed citrus and date trees. The wide green swaths of banana plant fronds created a contrast to the warm reddish-toned terra cotta of the building walls. Luke explained that special artisans had been flown in to get the details right, and Payson could easily see the evidence of their work.

"Look at this beautiful tile design!" she exclaimed as they stood in a space meant to show visitors what a Moroccan home could look like.

"All geometric," Luke replied. "No people."

"To match with their religious beliefs?"

"Exactly."

Past a flowing fountain, they strolled through the pavilion. They paused to read the menu at the Restaurant Marrakesh although just for fun since their dinner location was already chosen.

"I think belly dancers would be cool to see though," Luke said as they started towards one of the half dozen stores Morocco offered.

"Oh really?" Payson raised an eyebrow.

"The artistry of it," Luke said.

"Uh huh." Payson did not sound convinced.

Luke raised an eyebrow of his own, his eye twinkling. "Why else would I want to watch belly dancing when I've got you with me?"

Payson's half-hearted glare turned into a grin at his words and she rose up on tiptoe to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. Luke caught her below the elbows to return a quick kiss, this one though on the lips. Then he tucked her into his side and they walked into the closest store.

Although she would not call herself a fashionista, Payson found the clothing for sale fascinating; the bright colors and exotic designs called to her. Luke found the metal-ware more interesting especially a lamp that reminded him of the genie's home in the Aladdin cartoon.

"Going to buy that for your home?" Payson teased.

Luke chuckled. "I don't think it would go with my décor."

"You have a design going on?"

"Ouch," he faux-winced.

"You can't disagree with me," she replied. "I've seen your place."

"In my defense I had only been living in that place since the spring. Anyway you buying anything?" Luke asked, changing the topic away from the sparse decorating at his apartment.

"You should!" Kaylie suddenly chirped, appearing in their space. "The jewelry here is gorgeous!"

"But I don't need anything," Payson replied. "I don't wear that much jewelry."

"You never know when you might need something unique," Kaylie said, picking up a metal bracelet and holding it against her wrist before testing it against Payson. "Here what about this one?"

As Kaylie picked up several other pieces to tempt Payson, the blonde noticed that Luke was watching their exchange with interest. It wasn't just that he and Austin were waiting on them in these last few minutes before dinner; it was almost as if he was taking mental notes for something, some future moment. In the end Kaylie was unable to persuade Payson to make a purchase.

"Well, I've fallen in love with this bracelet," Kaylie said, picking up the silver-toned circlet. "You guys go ahead to dinner, I'll catch up."

"I'll wait with you," Austin replied. Payson glanced at her friend. She had thought that she had heard a tiny bit of strain in his voice but his face was calm, his stance relaxed.

 _"Must have imagined it,"_ she thought to herself as she and Luke rejoined the Kelly, Nicky, and Jake outside the Tangierine Café. The trio greeted them happily before heading in to look at their food choices. Even though it was normal dining hours, the eatery was not too crowded, and they had all paid for their food before Kaylie and Austin arrived. The meal here was a delicious blend of flavors, filling but not heavy. The spices were subtle—probably to appease the tourist palate—but not bland. The contrasting textures of the gritty couscous salad against the smooth hummus on the chewy bread gave the dish variety. The café was certainly not about to make any Michelin lists for top restaurants but the meal was a satisfying break before they moved on to France.

The group walked the short distance from Morocco to France, the exotic music transitioning into the lyrical sounds of Paris. The vegetation changed with the trees sporting small leafs and no fruit. Glass windows and metalwork defined the architecture while kiosks dotted the empty space. While a solid terra cotta tower had risen above Morocco, here the tower rising was spindly, culminating in a point: the famous Eiffel Tower.

While the Moroccan pavilion may have had the reputation for the most artistic detail, Payson could still see the careful thought put into making this pavilion a journey into France. Signs on the kiosks in delicate French writing. The cobblestone-design on the streets beneath their feet. Streetlamps stopped demurely at a one-story height, lending intimacy to the Parisian street. At the far end of the street, they entered the Palais du Cinéma where they marveled at the beauty of the European country during the showing of _Impressions de France._

The former chateaux of kings and queens such as Chenonceau and Chambord. The quaint views of a red-roofed village and its church. The majestic fountains and gardens of Versailles. Rolling bicycles, speeding Bugatti race cars, gliding hot air balloons, dashing skiers in Chamonix. Twilight at the Cannes Harbor followed by the Arc de Triomphe at night. More Paris scenes from the Seine River to the Louvre Art Museum to finally the impressive Eiffel Tower. All set perfectly to a musical score that included not only well-known pieces by French composers like Debussy but also simple folk music steeped in tradition.

Throughout the eighteen minutes of the video, Payson felt small thrills whenever a sight appeared on that screen that she had seen in her travels. However, those small thrills dulled next to the buzz that surged through her when Luke wrapped his fingers around hers. He kept his hand firmly on hers when they exited the theater, the small gesture showing her that while they might still be working out the official terms of their relationship, Luke was secure in showing the group their connection.

"I think I want to go to France now," Kaylie said. "So many beautiful places to see."

"That fortress rising up out of the rocky island looked awesome," Austin added.

"Mont Saint-Michel," Kelly said. The group looked at her, and she shrugged. "I took a French cultural class in college. I had the same thought as Austin about it and so its name stuck with me."

Jake grinned. "The different places in France were cool but personally I liked the shots of the food the best."

"The pastries," Austin immediately agreed.

"There's a good bakery in this pavilion," Luke pointed out. "Something with a very French-sounding name that I can never remember how to pronounce."

Kelly gave him a look and then with her classic sarcasm said, "A French-sounding name in the France pavilion."

"I studied Spanish!" Luke tried to defend himself.

"The more important question," Jake said, "is if you can remember which pastries are the best not the name of the place."

"Exactly!" Luke gave Jake a high-five in thanks for the save.

"We just had dinner," Kaylie protested. "Aren't you still full?"

"French pastries," Jake replied. "There is always room for French pastries especially ones with chocolate."

Kaylie still looked uncertain so Payson threw in a suggestion. "We're staying for the fireworks right?"

"Yep."

"What if we got some to eat while enjoying the show? The bakery stays open that late?"

"It should."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kaylie agreed. Trying to keep her scrutiny covert, Payson eyed her friend carefully. She knew that Kaylie's battle with anorexia had been years ago but she also knew the facts. That the fight against anorexia was more like a drawn-out war than a single battle. That Kaylie was definitely hiding something. However, her friend simply looked calm, not overly relieved at the chance to avoid food.

 _"Maybe you're just being overprotective. Still thinking of Kaylie in terms of our teenage years,"_ Payson thought to herself. She pushed her worries aside and allowed herself to focus instead on the warmth of Luke's hand on hers as the group continued to explore the France pavilion. Several shops filled the spaces along the Parisian street here: While some of the merchandise was definitely Disney such as the T-shirt emblazoned with a cartoon Marie cat or the tiny sculpture of Remy, the rat star of "Ratatouille," many of the other items for sale were wholly French.

Perfumes by Givenchy and Guerlain. Bottles of wine that glimmered in shades of burgundy, crimson, gold, and ivory. Crystalline wine glasses and stone coasters stamped with French labels. Postcards featuring the steel frame of the Eiffel Tower or the Impressionist work of Monet.

"So is this bringing back memories?" Luke asked, exiting the last of the shops they wanted to browse.

"A little," Payson said. "Once again, I'm reminded that even though I had the chance to travel through gymnastics, I spent so much time focused on the competition that there's a ton for me to go back and actually see for the first time. I'd love to go back to France and just spent a weekend wandering around Paris."

"We should go."

Payson stumbled a step at Luke's unexpected suggestion. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I mean, not next week, but maybe this summer?"

"Luke, I," she paused, hesitating.

He gave her hand a squeeze. "Think about it."

The group had reached a wide bridge arching over a waterway that extended out from the lagoon and led eventually to several hotels and then Hollywood Studios. They paused to lean over the edge, their eyes going down to the water. For a brief moment Payson imagined that they were looking at the Seine River, that Notre Dame Cathedral was just behind her. It was an enticing thought especially knowing that a trip would give them time together.

"Ready to go?" Luke's voice startled her out of her daydream.

Payson smiled, knowing that she was closer to making a decision about the summer than she had been a few moments ago. However, she also knew that Luke had not been pushing for an answer on his European question; he just wanted to know if she was ready to finish walking across the bridge.

"I'm ready."


	32. Don't Want Sad Payson

_AN: Of course I don't own any of the characters from MIOBI. This is the longest chapter yet; hope you enjoy it!_

As the group entered the area of the Canada pavilion, they heard lively folk music. A narrow stage fronted the pathway, and park visitors stood with their backs to the lagoon to listen. The seven of them paused while the band played two numbers and then took their bows.

"Not our best timing," Nicky pointed out as the crowd began to disperse.

"It can't be easy to hit all the performances here on time," Austin said. "And we weren't even trying to."

"They aren't as good as the group that used to play here," Luke said, leading them towards a Victorian-style building, its roof peaking steeply.

"Who was that?" Payson asked.

"Off Kilter."

"Off Kilter?" Kaylie repeated.

"They wore kilts and played bagpipes."

"Kilts?" Nicky asked.

Kelly wrinkled her nose. "You said they were better than the group we just saw but they played bagpipes?"

"It was cool bagpipe music!"

"Cool. Bagpipe. Music." Kelly drew out the words, space punctuating each word. Payson did not blame her. Bagpipes and cool did not belong in the same sentence in her opinion. At least not unless the sentence was negative.

Luke sighed. "Come here." He corralled the group over by a totem pole that was topped by a winged creature resembling a raven. Payson took in the turquoise and red details on the carved wood as Luke tapped at his phone.

"Ok, watch this," he commanded and turned his phone's small screen out towards the others. They crowded in close to hear as bagpipes and guitars rocked to a modern beat. Three minutes later even Kelly had to admit that Off Kilter had defied her initial conceptions.

"That was not what I had expected when you said bagpipes," Kelly said to Luke as the song ended. "I would have definitely enjoyed watching them play."

"Told you they were cool," Luke grinned.

"Mm hmm." Kelly kept her response just short of saying she had been wrong.

Like the majority of the World Showcase pavilions, Canada did not have a ride. The beauty of the country was represented in the architecture and landscaping and also a movie called "O Canada." However, when Luke said that they would be standing for the whole thing, their enthusiasm dimmed.

"People are already staking out their spots for the fireworks," Austin said. "Maybe we should skip the movie and try to find somewhere ourselves."

Luke glanced up at the slowly-darkening sky. "You have a good idea cousin."

"So let's walk around here a little bit and then try to find somewhere to stand around here?" Kelly suggested.

"Or do we need to get our spot now?" Jake asked.

Luke looked a little uncertain. "The crowds aren't really big tonight so I think we are safe to finish looking around here first."

Payson appreciated the chance to look at how Disney had created a pocket of Canada in Orlando. The totem poles connected to the native American tribes of the Northwest. Austin noticed a path leading up a small-scale mountain that hinted at the Rocky Mountains. They easily scaled the route and then admired the views: a beautiful waterfall and the village of shops. Down the other direction they found the entrance to Le Cellier, a sit-down restaurant with a design inspired by wine cellars. Beyond the shadow of the Hotel du Canada building, they walked through the Victoria Gardens. Since Florida's climate was a bit different from that of British Columbia, the vegetation was obviously not an exact replica of the famous gardens themselves, but the atmosphere was enchanting. They were the largest of any of the gardens in the World Showcase, and Payson could easily see the work that had gone into creating the space. A small pond surrounded by flowers created a perfect photo spot.

"Maple trees," Luke noted.

"Subtle," Payson replied, looking at the trees that represented their northern neighbor.

Kelly added, "They used maple leafs in their fence designs too."

"They thought about every part of the pavilion, didn't they?" Nicky commented.

"Well, it's turned out beautiful," Kelly replied.

"Just like you," Nicky murmured, keeping his voice low but since Payson was standing right next to the couple, she overheard the compliment. She smiled. While Kelly would shoot eye daggers to kill at her if she ever said anything out loud, Payson was happy to see that Kelly and Nicky made a cute as well as good couple. Their relationship had certainly been a slow burn as some romance readers would say for any pairing that took awhile to truly become a coupling.

As the group returned to the paved walkway that connected the pavilions, they noticed that the crowd waiting for the evening's show had increased. However, Luke pointed to a spot along the wooden fencing.

"We'll have to stand for the actual show but that's usually better for viewing anyway," he said. They hurried over to the empty space which actually was larger than they needed. With close to an hour before showtime still, they split into groups. First, the men headed back to France to pick out the pastries. When Kelly wanted to know why they got that chore, Jake bravely replied.

"Because girls take too long to decide which desserts they want."

Kelly had given him a sharp look but Austin had herded him away before she could call out any tart responses. The women had scooted apart from each other a little bit to make it easier to guard their space at the fence. Their positioning made it hard to talk but Payson did not mind a little bit of time to just relax. Without an afternoon break back at the hotel, she was feeling the day's activity. She let her mind go blank as she gazed out over the peaceful lagoon.

A buzz from her phone jolted her back to alertness. As she pulled her cell out of her pocket, she noticed the other two women doing the small thing.

"Boulangerie Patisserie," Payson read out loud and then looked over at Kelly. "Luke figured out the French-sounding name of the bakery."

"Never mind the name," Kelly said, showing her phone and an image of decadent pastries to Payson. "Why are they wasting their time sending pictures of the food instead of bringing it back here?"

"Probably because they are still in line," Kaylie said, her voice a little harder to hear with the distance and park noise. "Austin wants to know if we want bottled water."

"That's probably a good idea," Kelly nodded. "I'm guessing we'll want something to drink along with the rich pastries the guys are bringing back. I can share mine with Nicky though."

"Yeah," Kaylie agreed. "I'll just share with Austin."

"And Payson can share with Luke so just text Austin that we're good as long as they don't mind us sharing," Kelly said.

"Wait, Payson share with Luke?" Kaylie asked, her fingers stilling in the middle of her reply text.

Payson resisted the urge to glare at Kelly as Kaylie kept talking. "I mean, I know you two have been getting along but is there something else I should know?"

Payson felt her cheeks redden a little before replying, "We aren't dating."

"You want to," Kelly interrupted and this time Payson did glare.

"You do?" Kaylie asked.

Payson said, "We connected really well over the summer but nothing really happened, and we haven't been in touch as much the last few months, but we're enjoying each other's company right now."

"Just for now?" Kaylie asked.

Payson bit her lip and then said, "We're figuring that out still."

"Hmm," Kaylie said, her eyes speculative. Then she looked back down at her phone. "I'll tell the guys that we all think water is a good idea but not sure if we need whole bottles. We are good with sharing if they are."

Payson waited for Kaylie to finish typing and girded herself for the inevitable flood of questions. However, when Kaylie looked up from her phone, she just smiled.

"I'm happy that you two are figuring things out. Communication is so important."

"And sometimes so difficult," Kelly muttered. "So anyone else a little disappointed that we didn't get the chance to go check out the pavilion for Great Britain?"

"Kelly, we spent weeks there for the Olympics," Kaylie pointed out.

"Exactly! It was practically another home. Don't you want to see how good of a job Disney did with it?"

Kelly's comment was the reason why when the four men returned a few minutes later, it was to discover the three women immediately getting up.

"You look like you're about to leave," Austin commented, a bag containing delectable pastries in his hand.

"We are," Kaylie replied, her tone sweet as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Something wrong with the spot?"

"No."

"You guys are going to stay here and stake out our territory while we go take a look at Great Britain," Kelly announced. "There's still over a half hour to the start of night show."

"Do you want to take your food with you?" Austin asked, still a trace of confusion on his face.

"Of course!" Kelly replied and Nicky started digging into his bag.

"Want to take yours?" Luke's voice was right next to Payson's ear, distracting her from Kaylie's answer; she could not help the slight shiver at their closeness.

"I, I think I'll wait until I come back," she said, turning to face him.

"Sure it will still be here?" he asked. "They look really good."

Payson leaned a few inches closer, the space between their lips quickly shrinking. "I trust you. You don't want me sad, do you?"

He swallowed and then replied, "Nope. Don't want sad Payson."

"Good." Her eyes twinkled as she took a step back, but Luke reached out to grasp her hand and give it a quick squeeze.

"Let's go!" Kelly bumped her shoulder. "The crowds wanting somewhere to stand are just going to get worse so let's not make the guys hold down the fort too long!"

They hurried over to Great Britain, the distance not far.

"Wow," Payson said, her eyes scanning over the buildings.

"Doesn't look like London exactly," Kelly replied, taking another bite of her French pastry.

"No tall buildings," Kaylie agreed, "but definitely British."

"I think they're trying to represent the different styles of architecture," Payson said, and without Luke to turn to for trivia answers, she did a quick Internet search. "Yes, I'm right!"

She used the phone to fill the other two women in on a few details as they walked through the streets and shops. The thatch-roofed cottage that sold teas shared its appearance with the home of Anne Hathaway, the wife of England's most famous playwright, the bard Shakespeare. Right next door The Queen's Table offered tea sets and other table accessories for sale from within the walls of its Elizabethan-style building with its leaded windows.

The three of them slowed their pace when they reached the green garden behind the tea stores.

"This is adorable!" Kaylie gushed at the cozy space. Homes like those from "Mary Poppins" bordered the garden and gave it an intimate feel, sheltered from the noise of the theme park.

From here they moved to Tudor Lane, the time period shifting ahead a few centuries to the 1800's. A white home with columns inset in its façade housed "Fancy Goods for Lords and Ladies." While the women appreciated the exquisite design inside, they were not tempted to make any fragrance purchases. A series of row houses in Georgian-style kept up the residential theme despite the wares being hawked within.

"What a cute gazebo!" Kaylie said, looking out at the miniature Hyde Park.

"Hey, we probably should start back in a few minutes," Kelly said with a glance at the time on her phone.

"Ok," Payson replied. They picked up their pace to be able to see the remaining buildings such as the City Gate and its medieval appearance, the Gothic-Revival inspired Crown and Crest store, and the Hampton House look-alike which sold British sports items inside its red-brick walls.

"We have to get a picture there!" Kaylie said, spotting the bright red telephone booth.

"I don't know if we have time," Kelly hemmed. Kaylie ignored her hesitation and grabbing the woman's arm, dragged her over to the booth. Payson wisely followed without any protest. Kaylie turned a bright smile on a man standing over to the side and within a minute, she had their group shot.

"This is perfect!" she said as they started back towards Canada after thanking the stranger. "I can send it to you two."

"Sure," Payson started to say just as her own phone buzzed. "Wow, you were fast."

"I didn't send it yet."

"Oh." Payson pulled her phone out and checked the text. "It's Em. She says they're still in the park. She and Jordan are planning on watching the fireworks and were wondering where we were."

"I thought she was leaving?" Kelly voiced the surprise also on Kaylie's face.

"She doesn't say much, just that she's feeling better and wants to spend the time with all of us," Payson read.

"Canada," Kaylie spoke up softly. "Tell her to hurry to Canada. We'll find room."

Payson grinned as she sent the text back. They rejoined the guys after threading their way through a row of people.

"Emily and Jordan are coming too," she said to Luke as he wrapped an arm around her waist in greeting.

"Good thing you're all skinny," Luke replied, glancing around him. "The crowd keeps getting closer. I wasn't sure how much longer we'd be able to hold your space open."

"Took a lot of work?" she teased.

"Tons," he said and his eyes glinted. "Might have needed another pastry to stay energized.

Payson narrowed her eyes. "Where's the bag?"

"Just kidding," Luke grinned and handed over her treat. Payson opened the bag and took a deep breath.

"Perfect." And while just then she was referring to the sweet scent laced with chocolate, she knew that in a few moments perfect would be the word she would use to describe having their group back together.


	33. Nothing New

The tree ahead of them soared into the sky, its highest branches 145 feet above the ground. Payson hesitated in their march across the center of the Animal Kingdom. Her eyes swept over the enormous tree, the leaves stretching out from the sturdy trunk giving it a strong square look.

She squinted for a better look, "There are animals carved on that tree."

"Tree of Life," Luke replied. "Over three hundred animals are represented in its design."

"Wow," Payson breathed. She slowed down to try to get a better look, but Luke tugged at her hand.

"Come on, you can look at the tree closer later," he promised. "You don't want to get run over by the crowd."

Payson grimaced, but recognizing the truth about Disney visitors first thing in the morning, she let Luke guide her along the left side of Discovery Island. They had already cut straight through the Oasis without a pause for any of the two dozen animal species, waterfalls, or caves. Like the other park guests on this side of the park, they had their goal farther ahead of them, past the luscious green space and in the more arid Africa section of Animal Kingdom. Now upon a wide bridge, Payson returned her attention to the path in front of her—and grimaced again as her eyes fell on Lauren.

The blonde was clinging to her boyfriend's hand, their arms swinging along with the fast walking pace. Jake was turned towards her just then, his wide grin easily visible in the profile.

Payson felt a sinking sensation in her gut as she watched the happy moment. Her mind flashed back to the night before as their group had exited EPCOT after the spectacular IllumiNations show.

 _She was walking just ahead of Emily and Jordan and overhead Emily's hissed "It's not our business! We shouldn't tell them!"_

 _"I've had enough with secrets in my life!" Jordan retorted._

 _"This is Lauren's life!"_

 _Payson had heard enough. She gave a quick squeeze to Luke's hand, murmured that she'd be back, and then slipped back to join her two friends. "What's Lo done now?"_

 _Emily's mouth fell open while Jordan appeared to smirk somewhat._

 _"Remember I spent years in the gym with Lauren and Kaylie," Payson answered Emily's unspoken question of how she had heard them. "I had to know what drama they were dealing with to be able to stay out it. Overhearing their whispers tended to help me out with that."_

 _After a quick glance to make sure Jake was occupied in a conversation with Nicky and Kelly, Emily said softly, "We saw Lauren this evening."_

 _"Here? In the park?"_

 _Emily nodded._

 _"So she decided to keep touring but on her own? Sounds even more lonely than going back to the hotel by herself."_

 _The other two women exchanged a look, but this time it was Jordan who spoke up._

 _"She wasn't alone."_

 _"Lauren wasn't-oh," Payson stopped speaking as her mind caught up. There was only one other person visiting Disney World right now that Lauren would have been hanging out with._

 _"So do we tell Jake that she was walking around with Carter?" Emily asked. "I feel like it's not our place to do it but Jordan-"_

 _"She had her arm looped through his!" Jordan snapped and then gently laid a hand on Emily's arm. "Sorry, I'm not angry at either of you, but I think you give Lauren too much leeway because you've been friends for so long."_

 _"I've barely talked to Lauren since I left the gym," Emily pointed out._

 _"Sometimes old connections die slowly," Jordan replied._

 _Payson sighed, knowing that while she no longer trusted Lauren, she had to give her former teammate a chance. "We don't know the whole story. I say we give Lauren until tomorrow afternoon to tell Jake on her own and then figure out how to address it."_

 _She saw the disappointment in Jordan's eyes but also acceptance; Payson had been team captain in London and apparently some element of that authority still survived. Emily looked a bit hesitant as well with the decision, but Payson knew that stemmed from wanting to avoid purposely provoking Lauren. While Emily was ready and able to defend herself against the woman's attacks, she had no desire to draw her ire._

Now as the group rushed past the earth-toned buildings of Harambe, the fictional town in Disney's re-created Africa, Payson wondered if she had made the right decision. Jake was so at ease and happy but what if Lauren was hiding something between herself and Carter?

Jake and Lauren's relationship had been the first casualty of the whirlwind post-Olympic schedule demanded of the gold-medal winning team. Since the girls were on tour together, Payson had heard all the painful details—and knew that Lauren had rekindled things with Carter for a few months.

Lauren had shown considerable restraint in her public interactions with the male gymnast during that time, a definite change in her usual pattern of rubbing a romantic relationship in Kaylie's face. However, as Payson reflected, that had been during the most altruistic time period of Lauren's life. She genuinely had desired to be a better, less self-focused person. She had kept the details of her relationship with Carter quiet, rarely mentioning him around Kaylie who had still been navigating what a platonic connection with Austin entailed. However, Lauren had always been open with Payson, her roommate on the tour, so she had known much of the good moments and some of the bad ones. She didn't know the specifics of the end of the relationship but she did know that it had been Carter to break things off.

That was part of why Payson eyed Lauren with a bit of suspicion as the group wound their way through the queue area of Kilimanjaro Safaris. She did not trust what the other woman may have been up to the evening before with an ex-boyfriend.

"Hey, you ok?" Luke broke into Payson's musings. She glanced up at him and noticed his eyes tracking her gaze towards Lauren. "Something happen between the two of you?"

Payson did not pretend to smile but only said, "Nothing new."

"But are you ok?" he pressed.

"It's fine," she said quickly and looked away. Above them bilingual signs gave the names of animals in English and Swahili, and Payson read one out loud.

"You're trying to distract me," Luke murmured, leaning in close. "I'm not going to forget that something's up but I trust that you'll tell me when you're ready."

He dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head as Payson breathed out, "Thank you."

"So let's both let it go for now," Luke suggested. Payson hesitated but then nodded, understanding the wisdom behind his request. The two stayed quiet for the five more minutes it took to load into one of the safari vehicles.

"Woah!" Payson gasped as on its way out of the loading station, their truck hit a sharp bump and she slid into Emily on her right.

Emily laughed and gave her a gentle shove back towards Luke. "I think you'd be more comfortable falling that way."

Payson rolled her eyes but also giggled before suddenly saying "Oh look!"

They had come around a corner and a couple of deer-like spiral-horned animals stood at attention.

"Bongos," Emily quickly identified the animal from the graphic in front of them just before their guide announced the same information.

"Hey, check out the rhino!" Luke pointed at the large mammal enjoying the water hole. On the opposite side of the track Jordan snapped a photo of a different animal.

"It's striped like a zebra but its head looks different," she said. Emily was already scanning over the animal pictures before them, but the guide beat her to the answer.

"And on our right you can see a few members of our okapi family," she said in her cheerful voice. "This animal may have the same stripes as a zebra but it is actually closer related to the giraffe. They also share the same long gestational period—pregnancies last over a year!"

"Oh my goodness," Emily muttered. "No way. Nine months was bad enough!"

The other three in the row laughed as the truck headed deeper into the savanna. They tried to spot and name the animals before the guide did although about the half the time she spoke up quicker. Payson loved all the sights. The mostly-submerged hippos at the waterfalls. The mix of giraffes, antelope, and even ostriches in an open grassy area, punctuated by termite mounds.

"Those bugs have been busy building," Luke said, aiming his phone towards one mound that rose over a dozen feet into the air.

"Think it's authentic?"

Luke clicked his tongue at her. "Of course! You really think Disney would have anything fake?" Then he turned and winked before facing the animals again.

The route continued to be very bumpy with even a journey across a rickety bridge where a mishap promised a plunge into crocodile-filled waters. Payson preferred the pools near the fat baobab trees. Here pink flamingoes roosted while grey elephants slowly grazed the land. One younger one splashed its trunk in the water much to the delight of the tourists.

"I think I actually got a good shot," Luke grinned.

The guide spoke up, "Disney has nine elephants here in the Animal Kingdom. However, one of our females Donna is expecting again either at the very end of this year or the very beginning of next year."

"That's another animal with a long pregnancy," Emily said as their truck rumbled on. With the guide's knowledge they identified several other hoofed animals including oryx and eland.

Payson nudged Luke excitedly, "Look way up on the hill!"

"What am I looking at?"

"If you have good eyes, you might be able to spot the cheetah up in those grasses," the guide spoke up, and Payson nudged Luke again.

"You can just see its ears!"

Luke didn't even try to get a picture of the feline but just enjoyed the opportunity to observe the animal in a languid moment. "I think it's napping."

The next feline they saw definitely was taking a snooze. The male lion was lounging on a high rock. The queen of the idea raised her head for a moment to survey the safari truck before returning to her early morning nap.

"They're so beautiful," Payson said softly.

"Prettier than these guys," Luke snorted as they spotted two warthogs snuffling the dusty ground in their part of the savanna.

"They're cute," Payson protested. Luke raised an eyebrow, but she just smiled back. The warthogs were the last major animals on the safari as only a minute later the loading platform came into view.

After disembarking Luke checked the time and compared it to the time for their first FastPass of the day. "We made really good time on that ride so we actually have a half hour before our Fast Pass is ready. I know we had something to eat at the hotel but does anyone need something to eat or more coffee?"

"Coffee sounds great!" Lauren piped up. She had been the last one to be ready that morning and Payson was not sure if the woman had gotten a cup back at Old Key. However, no one else in the group echoed Lauren's words.

"Ok then," Luke said slowly. "We could split up. Some of us could go over to Kusafiri Coffee & Bakery for a drink and the rest of us can take a walk along the Pangini Forest Exploration Trail. We can all meet up again in front of the entrance to Expedition Everest."

Jake nodded, "That sounds like a plan. Lauren, ready to get some coffee?"

While the couple headed a little bit to the right and back towards the entrance of the Africa segment of the Animal Kingdom, the others in the group turned to the left. The trail was not very busy so they were able to spot several of the species. While some animals had also been on the safari, there were also new ones such as black and white colobus monkeys and yellow-backed duikers from the antelope family. The aviary hosted a variety of colorful birds—the burnt-orange African Hoopoe, the purple Amethyst Starling, the ebony Magpie Shrike, the red and black Beareded Barbet—but it was the space past the aviary that really captivated their interest.

"Oh wow! The hippo is right here!" Kaylie practically squealed as they walked up to the glass underwater viewing area and a much clearer look at the animal. After a few minutes of admiring the fluid movements of the swimming hippo, they continued on to the grassland overlook where they picked out the little dik diks and the adorable meerkats posing like small sentinals.

The last part of the trail was the Gorilla Research Camp which also had the biggest crowd. No surprise since beyond the glass wall here lived the gorilla family led by a silverback named Gino.

"Let's try the open air viewing area," Luke suggested to the shorter members of the group since the space next the window was already filled. His idea proved worthy as they were able to spot Gino and two other members of his family from this vantage point. Venturing over a suspension bridge, they saw two more gorillas, these ones members of the bachelor group in the park.

Exiting the trail Luke checked the time again before looking up at the others. "Our FastPasses are ready. Time to head to Asia!"


	34. Chapter 34

"So what did you think?" Luke asked as their car rolled to a stop after almost three minutes of roller coaster thrills.

"It was unexpected!" Payson replied. Based on the story of the legendary Yeti high in the Himalaya Mountains, Expedition Everest had set the scene from the moment they had stepped in line; the queuing area led riders through the Himalayan Escapes travel agency office, a temple with holy figurines and prayer flags, a room with expedition equipment, and finally the Yeti Museum. Once at the loading platform, Jordan and Emily had slid into the row ahead of them while Nicky and Kelly filled out the train car behind them. A small drop had kicked the railway train into a higher gear, and they had whizzed past bamboo forests and into a decrepit temple where they briefly saw warnings about the Yeti. Their train had continued its climb, passing through a cave before coming out on a snowy peak—where the tracks ahead of them had curled up from the ground, the steel ties pointing brokenly towards the sky, their perfect line mangled by a monster unseen beyond ominous tracks left on the white ground. They then had fallen backwards, returning along the same track and stopping for a distant encounter with the the Yeti, its shadow clearly visible on the cave wall as it ripped apart another set of tracks. Hurtling away from the beast, they had zipped through tunnels and forest before rolling up to another cave. There they had encountered the massive Yeti for the final time, a moment of coming across the creature as it continued its destructive rampage. Despite their train being firmly in the Yeti's sights, they had managed to escape, the ride vehicle bringing them safely back to the village.

"Unexpected?" Luke asked, helping Payson out of their train car.

She nodded. "The way the train suddenly went backwards. There was no warning we were about to completely switch direction. It was a big surprise."

"Big surprise?" Emily overheard them as she also unloaded. She wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure I want any more big surprises on this trip."

Payson reached over and gave her friend a side hug. Despite appearing calm, Emily had been more muted than normal since the day before and the conversation with Damon's agent. "Just Disney surprises."

"I'm not sure all Disney surprises are good," Emily murmured as the group re-gathered in the gift shop at the end of the ride. "Remember Damon is performing over in EPCOT, and I had no idea."

"I think that you're safe from more of those types of surprises here in the Animal Kingdom. There's no big amphitheater in this park," Payson pointed out.

Emily gave her a small smile and then a side hug of her own. "Thanks for being positive, Pay."

"So ready to discover what else Disney has in store for us?"

Emily linked arms with Payson, and they followed the rest of the group through the last bit of Asia, past a large theater, and into Dinoland USA. While Asia had held an element of mysticism, Dinoland USA was brash fun. The ringing and dinging of carnival games swirled around them as bright reds and yellows jumped out from the booths. With some time before their FastPasses for Dinosaur, they opted to join the line for Primeval Whirl. Although the line did not include the same detailing that Expedition Everest's had, it kept moving steadily, and after about ten minutes the group had arrived at the noisy loading platform.

Kaylie and Jordan teamed up with Payson and Emily to climb into the curved seat.

"You're leaving me alone with the boys!" Kelly squawked.

"You can handle them!" Payson called back, buckling the restraint.

"How much spinning do you think we're going to get?" Kaylie asked as the ride car slid forward.

Jordan grinned widely. "I'm hoping for a lot!"

"Well, I think you're about to get your wish!" Emily said, the ride beginning. While not as deeply-themed as Expedition Everest, Primeval Whirl kept the women squealing as it mixed elements of the traditional Wild Mouse coaster—sharp turns, little hills, cars noticeably wider than the track—with a spinning car that kept changing their perspective and sometimes hiding what was ahead.

The women laughed as Jordan exaggerated a wobbly stride once they disembarked although she was easily back to walking normal as they made their way to Dinosaur, an indoor thrill ride. Their FastPasses allowed them to bypass most of the line. Payson found herself behind Lauren as they navigated. To her surprise the other woman pulled her cell phone out three times in only a minute. She narrowed her eyes, suspicions forming again.

"Can I ride with you this time?" Luke murmured into Payson's ear. She pushed her concerns about Lauren aside and leaned back into his arm.

"I'd like that," she replied. Through the pre-show she allowed herself to relax in Luke's embrace but when they started towards the loading area, she noticed Lauren scanning her cell phone screen again. Suddenly she looked up and her eyes met Payson's. For a brief moment there was guilt and then Lauren smiled broadly, snuggling against Jake at the same time.

Payson held back the desire to ask what was so interesting on her phone but Lauren's message was clear: she might have been hiding something but she was not going to be giving any of it away. Thankfully only a minute later, they loaded into their time rover, Nicky and Kelly filling out their row. After flashing back to prehistoric days, they emerged the middle of impeding asteroid chaos. Their rover bumped through the wild land as the tracker on their vehicle tried to find the marked Iguanadon. They encountered several dinosaurs including a low-flying Pterodactyl. Payson held on as the vehicle made another swerve and then raced through the darkness, punctuated by burning meteors. Suddenly Payson screamed, Kaylie echoing her terrified cry as the large sharp-toothed head of a Carnotaurus lunged at their rover. Just then though they were transported back to the present tense and safety.

"Look at your picture!" Jordan laughed after they had exited.

Payson and Kaylie exchanged bashful looks. While most of the others in their vehicle looked like they were having, the two women appeared terrified.

"You competed in the Olympics but a robotic dinosaur freaked you out?" Austin teased his girlfriend.

Kaylie gave Austin a look before the edge of her mouth turned up. "I knew what to expect in London. A carnivorous reptile trying to eat me was not something I saw coming."

"The fact that we'd already seen it twice before in the ride wasn't a hint?"

"I wasn't trying to anticipate it!" Kaylie protested. "Payson, back me up!"

"Uh, yeah!" she replied, quickly turning her attention from Lauren checking her cell phone again to the debate before her. She joined in the discussion as they headed back into Discovery Island for lunch at Pizzafari, a restaurant with bright murals covering its walls. Following the basic meal, they returned to Africa and found seats for the Festival of the Lion King. Payson loved the music and high energy of the show. While the Tumble Monkeys with their crazy acrobatics were amusing, her favorite part was the feathered performers flying high above them to the words of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"

"Thinking of a career change?" Luke asked as she clapped enthusiastically once the pair had landed back on the ground.

Her smile was slightly wistful, remembering what soaring through the air on a spectacular stunt had felt like. "I miss it sometimes but I don't want to go back to gymnastics full-time as a performer or even a coach."

Luke seemed like he had more to ask but the show continued, so he stayed silent, allowing their attention to return to the dynamic performance. After the last note, the group continued to tour Africa with a trip on the Wildlife Express Train, not an attraction in itself but transportation out to Rafiki's Planet Watch. As parents slowly unloaded and reset up strollers, Luke nudged the group along the path, their speed rewarded by an unblocked view of black and white furry cotton top tamarins enjoying the warm day. Once inside Conservation Station, the group splintered to explore the various attractions. With its intimate, darkened room and soothing atmosphere, the Song of the Rainforest transported Payson away to a tropical jungle when she closed her eyes making it her favorite. She also had fun locating several hidden Mickeys in the area disguised as flowers, impressions on trees, and animal coloring. Luke and Austin, meanwhile, preferred the hands-on Affection Station, a petting zoo with exotic breeds of the typical barnyard animals. Kaylie and Jordan's top moment was hamming it up with Rafiki at the character meet-and-greet.

Another train ride returned them to Africa, a stepping stone back to Discovery Island and the Tree of Life. They roamed the trails surrounding the focal point of the park, more interested in identifying the myriad of animals on the tree than rushing to the attraction housed inside. Iguana, hippo, owl, bear, elephant, butterfly, tiger, big horn sheep, snake—Payson could not keep track of all the species.

 _"I also couldn't keep track of how many times Lauren is checking her phone,"_ she thought to herself as they entered the lobby for It's Tough to Be a Bug, the attraction inside the Tree of Life. She had forced herself not to actively track Lauren's cell phone usage but nearly every time Lauren had been in view, her attention had been on her phone rather than the amazing designs before them.

"Selfie," Kaylie demanded, her 3-D glasses already on.

"Aren't we supposed to wait to put these on until we're safely seated?" Payson hedged, looking dubiously at the pair in her hand. Themed to fit the upcoming show, they had little black antennae above the eyes.

Jordan slung an arm around Payson's shoulders, her eyes also bespectacled. "We're gold medal gymnasts. I think we can handle walking in 3-D glasses."

"Besides we're not moving at the moment," Kaylie pointed out.

Payson sighed but pushed the glasses up her nose and posed for a few photos with her girlfriends.

"Oh, this one is going to look so cute on my Instagram feed!" Kaylie purred, scanning through them and then quickly added, "Once we're back."

"One of the parts I love about vacation," Jordan said. "Not feeling guilty about taking a break from social media."

Payson understood how her former teammate felt. Social media was a great way to connect with fans but with the ramp-up to the 2016 Summer Olympics going on, more and more attention was focusing on them again. This trip to Disney was a chance to just be tourists, one in the crowd. While it was very likely someone had recognized them over the last few days with their social media accounts silent on their current locations, they had been able to simply be another group of friends visiting the parks.

They certainly were just one of the crowd as they filed into the theater, a herd of insects also joining from the pitter and patter of their multiple feet. The show engaged nearly all the senses as an animatronic Flik showed them how insects were really more friends than creepy foes. While the Chilean tarantula Chili and his slingshot skills impressed Payson, she was not thrilled by Claire de Room and her demonstration of her smelly stink bug skills.

"What's next?" Austin asked his cousin when they exited.

Luke thought briefly and then replied. "Honestly we've hit the almost all the major attractions. At this point we have a theater show based on Finding Nemo, another carnival ride over in Dinoland, a trail like the Gorilla Falls one, and then Kali River Rapids which is the only big one we haven't ridden."

"Rivers Rapids?" Lauren looked up from her phone, her nose wrinkled.

"It's an adventure water ride," Luke replied.

Lauren's mouth twisted downward, "So you get wet?"

"Most likely."

"I'm going to pass on that one," Lauren replied. "Wet clothes are not my thing."

Jake tilted his head, "It's actually warm enough today, I don't think it would be that bad especially if we headed back to the hotel right after it."

Lauren looked unconvinced. No one's opinion in the short discussion changed her mind, and so a few minutes later, everyone except Lauren headed towards Asia. She had assured everyone that she was fine to go back to the hotel by herself.

"There is a pool at the resort!" she had grinned.

Secretly, Payson was a little bit relieved to see Lauren go; her continued texting on her phone was getting to Payson especially after she picked up on the pattern of the texting happening when Jake's attention appeared to be elsewhere.

However, just because Lauren was gone did not mean Payson could ignore what the blonde was up to. As she walked through the palace ruins past Malayan tapirs and a few dozen bats, Jordan sidled up to her. From the serious look in her dark eyes, she made it clear that they needed to talk so Payson slipped her hand out of Luke's and dropped back to give them some privacy.

"We need to tell Jake about last night," Jordan said very softly. Payson glanced over to where the men were peering through the glass barrier at two lounging Asian tigers, more interested in an afternoon nap than entertaining the crowd.

"What else happened?" Payson asked, inwardly cringing at the fact that her question was what had Lauren done not if she had done something new.

"You noticed that she's been on her phone most of the day?"

Payson blinked. She had wondered if anyone else had tuned into the excessive phone usage. "Yes."

Jordan continued, "At first I thought maybe she was having issues with work again like at the beginning of the trip."

"But?" Payson prodded, coldness starting to settle in her stomach.

Eyes flicking over towards Jake, Jordan lowered her voice again. "She didn't realize that I was next to her but Lauren answered a text when I had a clear view of her phone screen. Payson, she was texting Carter."

Payson blew a long breath out. "Maybe that was just one time?"

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "You really think that?"

"It's not fair to go to Jake with what might have been only one text between Lauren and an ex."

"I figured you would want more proof," Jordan said slowly. "So I made sure to get a look at Lauren's phone several more times, and every text was to Carter."

Focused on Jordan's words, Payson had blindly followed the group to the next viewing area. She barely noticed the birds roaming through the enclosure in front of them as she considered her next words. "Not here."

"What?"

"Not here in the park," she said, her voice gaining firmness. "Let's wait until we go back to the hotel. We can talk to Jake with Lauren there, and then the two of them can handle things."

"Ok," Jordan nodded. The group was exiting the trail now, and Luke returned to Payson's side, but even with his presence, she felt troubled. Her emotions and focus roiling, she had trouble paying attention to the details of Kali River Rapids; she even felt disconnected from the drenching splash of water after a plunge. Payson could not join in the excited chatter as they headed towards the exit. Her mind kept returning to Lauren's actions and the brewing confrontation.


	35. Lot to Explain

The confrontation was about to happen and much sooner than Payson had anticipated. After disembarking from the bus at Old Key West, the group started across the parking lot to their part of the resort.

"What's Carter doing coming out of our building?" Jake suddenly asked. "His room isn't anywhere near ours."

Even though she was several steps from Jordan, Payson clearly heard the swear word. Emily's steps faltered as Kaylie swiveled around to look at the trio.

"What do you know?" she hissed although unfortunately not that quietly. Everyone had slowed their walking, their attention focused on the women.

Jordan took a breath and then said, "Em and I saw Lauren with Carter yesterday in EPCOT."

Jake's face fell but instead of asking more questions, he started walking towards their room again, his steps quick, his shoulders tight. Nicky and Kelly hurried after him, Luke and Austin next. The rest of the women followed at the end.

Kaylie's eyes glowered, "Didn't you think you could tell me, Jordan? Didn't you think I could handle it?"

"Payson said we should give Lauren time to tell Jake on her own," Jordan started.

"You could tell Payson but not me?"

"Kaylie-"

"I realize I've had my struggles," Kaylie said, her voice rising as the tears began to shimmer in her eyes. "The anorexia is a battle I will always have to be ready for, but I'm strong enough to handle it! I managed to come back from a relapse six months ago without any of you. I certainly could have handled anything that Lauren did!"

Payson's mouth fell open while Emily buried her face in her hands. Only Jordan moved, her arms wrapping Kaylie in a tight hug.

"You knew I was always just a phone call away. Why didn't you talk to me?" Jordan's broken question carried to the other two even as Kaylie's hair muffled the words.

Kaylie sniffled, her voice still betraying the tears. "Because it felt like a failure. Like everything I've been working towards just fell apart and I had failed everyone. But if I didn't say anything, I was still strong enough."

"Oh, hon, you are never a failure." Jordan soothed her. "You may have tough battles but you've always gotten back up. You're doing better now right?"

Kaylie straightened up and Payson could see a weak smile in profile. "Three solid months of recovery now."

"See?" Jordan replied. "Not a failure."

Kaylie turned towards the other women. Her smile wobbled, and her eyes pleaded for understanding. Payson found herself easily moving forward to give her teammate a tight hug. She felt a shuddering as Kaylie leaned into the embrace, Emily's arms also closing around them.

"Austin wanted me to tell you," Kaylie whispered. "We actually had a few fights about it including one on our way to the airport. I just felt so ashamed which is ironic considering how to the public I've been so outspoken on how this disease needs to be brought out of the shadows if we really want to conquer it."

"You never have anything to be ashamed of in this battle," Payson said, gripping Kaylie's shoulders tight as she looked straight in her eyes. "And don't ever be afraid of asking us to step into that battle with you."

Relief flickered in Kaylie's expression, her stance relaxing. Jordan looped her arm through Kaylie, and together the four walked back to their hotel room.

Unfortunately the bubble of peace splintered as soon as they walked through the door where Lauren was screaming at Kelly. The petite brunette showed no fear, her shoulders and feet squared.

"You know nothing about my relationship with Jake!"

"I don't need to know about you two," Kelly retorted, not shouting but her tone cutting. "I know that you and Carter had an on-and-off thing for a long time! Everyone knew you were sleeping together. No wonder Jake's upset!"

"Carter and I stopped being serious long before the Olympics!"

"You still had something going on well after London!" Kelly retorted.

"We haven't seen each other in over a year!" Lauren snapped.

"That's not quite true," Payson said without thinking. The room fell silent at her quiet comment, but Lauren's eyes flashed.

"Oh?" One word but Lauren made sure the word seethed with ice.

Payson swallowed before continuing. "We interviewed for the same internship a year ago. I saw you walking with Carter after coming out of my appointment." She stopped them, determined not to bring up more memories of that day. Of how what should have been the first step to a fabulous growing experience instead in bitter disappointment from Lauren's betrayal.

"Oh, I remember those interviews," Lauren replied, her mouth twisting into a smirk that held no warmth. "They rejected you after finding out that you weren't as perfect as you would like everyone else to believe."

"I never said I was perfect," Payson gritted out.

Lauren's eyes slitted. "You may not have ever said those exact words, but how you acted and what you did say made sure to show that you thought you had life figured out so much better than the rest of us."

"Lauren-"

"You were so sure about how to be focused on gymnastics. It was obvious that you thought you were better than us because you made sure that the gym was your life. Anything else like boyfriends or wondering about college one day was a distraction. Honestly, looking back, I realized that it was surprise that you even bothered to be friends with us."

"You are so off base!" Kaylie jumped in.

Lauren just huffed, "Come on, Kay. You remember the lectures she gave us about how our heads weren't in the right place whenever she caught us looking at one of the guys?"

"We only got lectured when we let the drama interfere with our gymnastics!" Kaylie protested even as Payson twinged inside. With several years between them and their last group workout, she could acknowledge that she had been a bit heavy-handed with her anti-dating preaching at times.

Lauren just shrugged. "Whatever you want to think." Then she paused and smiled, her eyes twinkling dangerously. "But you eventually did start dating, didn't you, perfect Payson?"

"I'm not-" Payson started to agree the perfect label again as Jordan spoke up.

"Yes, she dated Rigo around the Olympics and while that didn't work out, Payson's competitive abilities certainly didn't suffer."

"Rigo?" Lauren snorted. "He might have been the first guy that Payson was public about but he wasn't her first kiss."

"Really, Lauren?" Now Emily was the one coming to Payson's defense. "That kiss with Sasha was nothing. She was an excited teenager."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "I'm not talking about that kiss, well at least, not just that kiss. I'm talking about the two months she spent kissing Sasha after Rigo."

Payson felt her cheeks flame even as her stomach suddenly churned. She could not look at the others. The time with Sasha had been kept quiet; none of the others had known.

"Payson?" She heard Emily asking.

"How did you know?" she asked Lauren, her focus on the other blonde.

"Really?" Lauren just shook her head. "Summer, of course."

"She told you?" Payson felt the rise of anger. Summer, while good-intentioned, had at times stepped a bit too far and now it seemed Payson was going to pay a price.

"She told Daddy," Lauren replied. "I just happened to be outside his study when she was having the conversation. She was hurt that Sasha had picked you over her."

"That's not-" Payson started.

"I mean, in a way, it was good for me that you started dating our coach. It drove Summer right back to my dad."

"Not that they lasted," Emily said sharply. Payson knew she should not have appreciated the bite in her friend's voice but the support from Emily was a slight balm on the wound Lauren had gashed.

Lauren glared at Emily before returning her attention to Payson. "The thing is though, I can't help but wonder."

Payson waited for her to continue but Lauren just smiled serenely. Payson gritted her teeth and asked, "Wonder what?"

Lauren's grin stretched like the Cheshire cat's. "Did we miss something? While we were so busy focusing on the Olympics? Or those months leading up to the Training Center? Was there more going on with you and our coach?"

"Lauren, how could you even suggest that?" Jordan spoke up, but Payson could hear a mix of emotions in her former teammate's voice. She felt a small stab of guilt at the hurt Jordan must be feeling with her own traumatic history.

"Sasha showered her with attention!" Lauren snapped. "She was obviously his favorite!"

"Payson was the best of us!" Kaylie yelled. "That's why she got the attention, Lo, not because she was having some affair with our coach!"

"Are you sure?" Lauren challenged.

"Yes!" Kaylie's emphatic response was echoed by her hand clenching firmly to Payson's shoulder, a gesture missed by most of the others as Jake finally spoke up.

"What is wrong with you, Lauren?"

"Wrong with me?" Her pitch rose to a shrill shriek.

"Yeah, you," he replied, his eyes dark and disapproving. "We get invited on this trip to reunite with your friends and what, you decide you have to fully revert to selfish Lauren like when all of you were still training for your first big meets? In case you didn't notice, everyone else has grown up."

"You call keeping secrets like dating our coach grown up?"

"Who Payson dated once she was an adult is her business. It's certainly not yours to throw out in front of everyone else. Besides," he continued, his voice taking on a dark edge, "I wouldn't be talking about secrets since this whole argument started with the fact that you didn't feel the need to tell me you spent a whole afternoon with an ex."

Lauren's face turned stony. "You're blaming me."

Jake pressed his lips together and then nodded slowly. "I'm saying your choices and your actions had a lot to do with this blow-up."

Lauren's eyes flashed. "Fine. I'm out of here. If none of you want me around, I don't care. Carter will be more than happy to spend the evening with me." She snagged her purse from the couch and then pushed her way past Nicky to the door. Payson was not the only one who cringed from the slam.

An awkward silence hung over the room for a long minute. Payson finally looked over to Luke. He was looking at her but his expression was closed. The churning in her stomach intensified.

"Luke," she started.

"You dated your coach."

"Yeah."

"The same guy that you kissed when you in training."

"Yes." Payson swallowed hard, wishing they did not have an audience.

"The one that you said didn't mean anything."

"Luke, there's a lot to explain."

He shook his head. "Payson, I don't think I'm in the mood to hear it. Not right now."

Kaylie's hand on her shoulder squeezed tighter, and then the woman spoke up. "You know, I think we all need some time to process things. Ladies, maybe we go for a swim?"

"Sure." Emily piped up.

"Sounds like a great idea."

"Not really into the chlorine thing but I can always work on my tan," Kelly replied. As Austin tossed an idea about mini-golf out to the men, Payson vaguely felt Kaylie turning her away from Luke's disappointed expression. Her mind registered that her feet were taking her to her room to change, but her heart only registered pain.


	36. Pool Talk

Maybe it was luck, maybe it was Divine Providence, but the pool area had not been crowded when the five women had arrived, towels in hand. They settled on some armchairs away from the edge of the pool, and with the happy shrieks of young swimmers as background, Payson haltingly revealed her story.

It had been only three weeks after Rigo had dumped her that she had run into Sasha. Their former coach-the man they remembered as being so solid and confident-had been an emotional mess himself. Since seeing Summer again at the Training Center shortly before the Olympics, he had rebuilt the connection. Their texting had advanced to occasional phone calls which had turned into some casual hanging-out at coffee shops and parks. Sasha had found himself enjoying her company to the point where he broached the idea of them dating again. The brightness in Summer's eyes had immediately dimmed, and she had replied that just the last weekend she had gone on a date with a really nice guy from church. They were going out again that night. Summer was not the type of woman to try to balance two men, and while he could see regret in her eyes, Sasha also knew she would feel guilt if he tried to persuade her to date the both of them.

"So when we ran into each other, we were both a bit vulnerable," Payson said, grateful that her sunglasses shielded everyone's eyes. It was easier to tell the story if some of the emotion could stay detached.

"How serious were you?" Kaylie asked.

"I mean, it was two months, so you guys weren't really serious right?" Jordan followed.

Payson shook her head, "I don't know where Lauren got that number really. Sasha and I went on a few dates for only a month really."

"That's not long," Kaylie commented.

"The thing is," Payson said slowly, "I'd had a crush on him at one time-"

"Which one of us didn't find him attractive?" Emily muttered.

"I know, really?" Kelly added which caused every woman's head to swivel towards her. "What? I may not have trained at your gym but it doesn't mean I didn't notice him at meets! He was a gorgeous gold medalist with a British accent!"

Payson felt the grin spread across her face at Kelly's accurate assessment of their former coach. Her friends' comments also helped to ease the nervous tension she had felt at the secret coming out. "There was some attraction but we didn't have much in common. Plus he was still very much interested in Summer."

"But what about how you felt?" Emily suddenly spoke up. "How did you feel about Sasha?"

"I cared about him as a friend," Payson answered honestly, feeling unexpected relief at sharing. "I will also have positive feelings towards him, but there wasn't really anything there. We were too different."

"He's changed a lot from when we first met him," Emily pointed out.

Payson nodded. The Sasha that was now a happy husband to Summer and proud father to their twin boys was a far cry from the man that had led them to the Olympic Training Center. "He has, but he's changed in a way that melds with how Summer has grown and changed. Not in a way that would have worked for a relationship with a former athlete over a decade younger."

"I don't get what Summer was doing around Steve though," Kaylie said after a pause. "I mean, I remember from the Games that they were back on speaking terms, but it didn't seem to be anything more than casual acquaintances. Plus, you just said she was dating some guy from her church."

"Which is why I was so confused when several months later, my mom told me that Sasha and Summer were dating," Payson replied.

"Ok, I know your mom worked with Sasha at the Rock, but I didn't think they were close enough for him to confide his relationship with her," Emily said.

Payson smirked. "Summer met Sasha after work at Rock one night when Mom was working late. She grilled him for details the next day."

"And?" Kaylie prompted. "You realize that while we all had a great time at the wedding, we never actually talked about how Sasha and Summer finally ended up together?"

"They were just so obviously in love," Emily said, her voice soft. "I guess we forgot that it hadn't been a smooth path to the altar for them."

"So, Payson, what's the story?" Kaylie prodded.

"I don't have all the details," she protested. Kaylie lowered her sunglasses to make eye contact and Payson sighed. "Ok, from what my mom shared, church guy was nice but that was it. Summer didn't feel anything real, so after a few dates, she stopped seeing him. However, she thought Sasha was unavailable-"

"Because she saw the two of you." Kaylie figured.

Payson nodded, "I guess. I found out about Sasha and Summer so much later than our short time dating that I never put it together."

"Summer always felt safe with Steve. After feeling left behind by Sasha, she went to Steve for comfort," Emily spoke up. "But as Lauren said, that didn't last long. Summer came to her senses and called that relationship off."

This time everyone's eyes swiveled to Emily.

"How would you know that Summer was the one to break things with Steve off?" Kaylie asked. "You weren't even living in Boulder."

An eyebrow arched over the top of Emily's sunglasses. "Who was Steve dating when all of you went to the Olympics?"

"Oh," the word fell drawn out from Kaylie's lips.

Emily nodded. "Exactly. My mom. There were a lot of good things in her relationship with Steve, but in the end they decided they were better as just friends."

"Like Sasha and me," Payson said. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jordan visibly relaxed at that phrase. She understood the other woman's reaction. After the abuse Jordan had suffered and stories they had heard from other gyms, she knew that not all coach-athlete relationships were good ones. The thought that Sasha could have abused his position of authority was a painful one, but a question that she had prodded carefully after their month together until she was sure that nothing wrong had taken place.

"So Steve was best buds with your mom and confided his relationship troubles to her?" Payson tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear Kelly's slightly skeptical question.

Emily barked a laugh. "Hardly. When Chloe and Steve decided they were better as friends, he offered her a job in his office. Steve already knew that Chloe had a way of connecting with all sorts of people, and he had discovered that she also had some strong organizational skills and the ability to pick things up extremely quickly. Summer came to Steve's office to break things off."

Kaylie winced, the grimace visible even behind her glasses. "Ouch. That sounds tough."

The edge of Emily's mouth turned up. "Apparently he didn't leave her much choice since he wouldn't answer her calls or texts."

"Steve did like to ignore problems if he couldn't figure out a way to solve them to make his own situation better," Kaylie grumbled. Payson guessed her friend's mind was flashing back to how Steve had solved the issue of their long-ago coach Marty's affair with Kaylie's mom.

"Anyway, part of what makes my mom such a secretary for Steve is her unashamed curiosity and Summer didn't shut the door when she marched into his office, so she heard everything."

"And you're just now sharing?" Kelly asked.

Emily laughed. "I don't think we were really friends three years ago, Kelly."

"Eh," Kelly waved the truthful statement off.

"Chloe told me about it in one of our phone calls but I was a new mom trying to figure things out all the way in Los Angeles," Emily explained. "The love dramas from Boulder were not high on my list of priorities at the time."

The group fell silent then, giving themselves time to let all their words sink in. Kelly was the first to relax, leaning back into her chair, her arms and legs positioned just so for maximum sun benefit. Jordan and Kaylie were next, slipping away from the group to take a dip in the warm water although they stayed away from where the sandcastle slide dumped preschoolers and preteens into the pool.

"You ok, Em?" Payson asked as she settled back against her chair. The other woman was still sitting up straight.

"I think I'm kind of pulling a Steve."

"A Steve?"

"Ignoring the other person when you don't know how to deal with them."

"You're not pulling a Steve, Em," Payson said with a shake of her head. "I don't know what happened between you two, but I know that you're not avoiding Damon just to figure out how to twist the situation to your benefit without caring how things end up for him."

Emily's shoulders slumped. "But I am avoiding Damon. I haven't let him talk to me beyond anything related to our son for the last several months."

"And he's been trying." It was not a question from Payson. His agent's words at EPCOT the day before made Damon's actions obvious.

Emily exhaled slowly. "About a year ago we had a really in-depth conversation about our relationship. How even though we had agreed to co-parent without being romantically involved, we still cared deeply for each other."

"He wanted to try dating again?" Payson guessed.

Emily nodded.

"What did you say?" Kelly sat up and leaned towards them. Emily hesitated, and Kelly continued. "Look, I know we aren't that close. I didn't really get to know your fellow Rock Rebels until after you had left, but trust me, I know a thing or two about pushing the guy you love away."

"I didn't say I loved him," Emily replied even as pink flushed on her cheeks.

"I don't think you need to," Payson said, gently rubbing her friend's shoulder. "Although I don't understand our conversation earlier this week now. You made it sound like you had no choice but to move on from Damon like he didn't want anything beyond a positive parenting relationship."

Emily sighed again, her head falling briefly into her hands before looking back up at the two other women. "I told him I wanted to see where things could go too, but that I needed us to take it slow. Damon agreed and for a couple of months, it was good."

"How good?" Kelly asked, a smirk on her face.

"Not that like!" Emily was quick to say. "We had actually just had our first kiss-"

"This time," Kelly murmured, but Emily ignored the former Denver Elite's comment.

"And then I found out Kaylie was coming to visit Damon."

"Oh," Payson said.

"Oh?" Kelly asked. "She's with Austin. Has been. Why is that such a big deal?"

"Because Kaylie wasn't always with Austin," Payson said when Emily stayed quiet.

"Oh!" Kelly caught on quick. "Kaylie and Damon had a thing?"

"Right around the time I was pregnant," Emily said, her voice clipped.

Kelly grimaced, "No wonder you don't like her."

"I didn't for a long time, but this trip has helped to clear some things up."

Kelly nodded. "True. Those negative vibes I was picking up on the first day aren't as strong now. Well, unless we consider Lauren."

"Not the important part right now," Payson cut in.

"I know Damon was part of it too but because Kaylie's sort-of-maybe relationship with him helped to derail us, I've always been sensitive about her," Emily explained. "So a few days later when Damon realized I was mad, instead of being willing to listen to him tell me why she was coming for a visit, I kind of shut the door on the idea of us."

"I'd say your sensitivity was a bit understandable," Kelly replied in a wry tone.

"Except when you consider what actually brought the two of them together in the first place," Emily said. "When Kaylie was battling her anorexia, she discovered that she had a knack for songwriting. She ended up using music as a form of therapy."

"Therapy?"

"It was a different way for her to express herself," Emily said. "And with me suddenly gone, she created an anchor for Damon. Helping her develop her songwriting voice was a balm for his anguish."

"Balm for his anguish?" Kelly repeated. "Very poetic, Kmetko."

Emily wrinkled her nose. "They were both hurting and together they figured out a way to heal."

"So that's why Kaylie went to see Damon recently," Payson caught on.

Emily nodded even as Kelly still looked confused. "She went to him to help her with her music as she re-centered herself after her relapse. Damon had even said something about it being song-related, but I didn't want to listen."

"You'd been hurt," Kelly said, her voice soft as she put the pieces together. "It's not easy to move past that."

"But we're adults now," Emily protested. "Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Move beyond the things that bothered us when we were teenagers and make better choices?"

"From everything I've heard," Kelly started, "You've been making excellent choices as a young mother. You even put yourself out there again for a chance with Damon. And yeah, maybe your reaction to Kaylie coming to visit wasn't the most mature, but we're human. We're allowed to mess up. There are no judges scouring our performances for deductions anymore."

"So you think Damon would see it that way? That I just made a mistake?"

Kelly swung her legs over the side of her chair so she was facing Emily full-on. Pulling off her sunglasses, she leaned forward, her eyes intent. "The man sent his agent after you. His agent who I'm sure had a million other things to coordinate. I'd say the move is in your court now, Kmetko."

The tiny brunette slid her sunglasses back on and resumed her relaxed position lounged against her chair. Emily stared at her for another minute before turning back towards Payson.

"For what it's worth, I agree with Devil Horns," the blonde said.

"I heard that," Kelly chirped.

"Well, I wasn't whispering!" Payson called over, and a hint of a smirk etched itself onto Kelly's face. It was yet another sign of how they had changed from their early competitive days at the senior level that Kelly had become part of their trusted group.

There was silence for another long moment before Emily spoke again. "Ok. I'm going to enjoy this sunshine for another half hour."

"And then?" Payson could not help the prompting.

"And then I have a concert to get ready for."


	37. To Go On Your Own

The men and women reunited in the early evening. The ladies were just finishing getting redressed after post-swim showers. Well, post-swim showers for four of them, Kelly's was post-lounge-in-my-sunchair-all-afternoon-shower. Not even Jordan and Kaylie's enthusiastic descriptions of their twisty rides down the curving slide of the sandcastle tower had coaxed the former gymnast out of her lazy-cat position.

"You really did miss out on the slide," Payson said to Kelly. The other woman just harrumphed and went back to defining her eyes. Payson resisted the urge to ramble about their pool time and forced herself to wander out to the living room area. A minute ago Kaylie had yelled that the men had gotten off the bus at the resort, so they were due back in their room any second now. Emily had left about ten minutes before that to head towards EPCOT.

 _"You're ok to go on your own?" Payson asked._

 _Emily nodded, a small but sure smile gracing her lips. "I am."_

 _"I mean, I know you want to talk to Damon alone but I can go with you until you get there," Payson offered. "It's a long walk from the entrance of EPCOT to the American Adventure. You might get pretty nervous."_

 _Emily patted Payson's arm._ _"Oh, I'm nervous, probably as nervous as I was the first time I competed at Nationals. But I know that it's time for me to stop avoiding Damon. If I don't approach him, we'll never figure things out. I'm done being afraid."_

 _She leaned in to give Payson a quick hug. "It helps that I know he wants to talk, but there's still no guarantee that everything will go how I want it to."_

 _"You know that if you need me, just call and I'll come."_

 _Emily's eyes glowed. "Of course. The same goes for you."_

 _"For me?"_

 _"You and Luke are going to be having a conversation soon."_

 _"I don't know if he's going to want to talk to me," Payson deflected, remembering the hurt look on his face._

 _Emily squeezed Payson's arm. "He will. He's a good guy. He won't leave you hanging even if the conversation is only long enough to tell you he doesn't want a relationship."_

With Emily's words running through her mind, Payson felt her nerves build with every moment that the door to their rooms stayed shut. She stared at the large window overlooking the leafy Florida foliage—and then jumped when the door suddenly clicked. Noise erupted around her as the men swarmed in, Jake teasing Nicky about something from hole fifteen, Kaylie skipping over to Austin with a hello kiss and question if his mini-golf skills since the last time she trounced him. The hubbub faded though when Luke's eyes connected with hers. Payson drew her breath in as a skittish energy surged around her, but she held Luke's gaze.

He did not make her wait. With a few big steps, he was there in front of her, his arms closing around her. Payson curled into the embrace. It was not the tight desperate clinch of a good-bye hug nor was it the gentle comfort of an apology hug. However, she felt strength in Luke's hold, a surety.

"We need to talk," he murmured into her ear. Words that could equal a negative moment in a relationship yet this time Payson heard the different tone. They needed to talk not to part ways but to figure something out. No guarantee of a future but not an automatic dismissal.

She pulled away enough to look up at him. "When?"

"Whenever you want," he said, his volume low enough to keep the conversation private. "I know the group plan is to go into the Magic Kingdom this evening, but we can stay back here."

Payson glanced towards the others. By this time everyone had gathered in the communal living area. She caught a glimpse of Jake. The man was smiling, but Payson could see the effort behind the expression. "I think it might be better for everyone if we go into the park with them especially Jake with Lauren not here."

"So she hasn't come back?"

"No."

Luke frowned and then looked over at their friends. "Emily still getting ready?"

"Oh, she's actually on her way to EPCOT."

"EPCOT?" Luke raised an eyebrow and then grinned. "She's going for her happy ending with Damon."

The edge of Payson's mouth quirked up. "In between trying to knock a little ball in a hole, you guys were talking about Emily and Damon's romance?"

"You're making it sound like a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie."

Payson's grin grew bigger. "Familiar with those?"

"I have sisters remember?"

Payson laughed and Luke continued.

"We probably didn't get as in-depth as you ladies did-I don't believe for a minute you spent the whole time at the pool practicing your freestroke-but Austin filled in some details. Nicky and I both had a Swiss-cheese type understanding up the situation. Even Jake had a few questions."

"But there are some things Austin wouldn't know," Payson said, remembering Emily's words from the pool.

"Emily and Damon loved each other, broke up, Emily had a baby, Damon still loves her. What more do we need?"

"You can't be sure he loves her."

"From the way his agent talked, I bet there's something deep there. However," Luke dropped his volume again. "I'm more interested in the details of us and the talk we'll be having later."

"When we get back," Payson promised.

Luke nodded and then released her from his hug. The separation was a little disappointing, but Payson knew that they weren't quite in the same spot they had been that morning. A little bit of space until their discussion that evening was not a bad thing.

 _"Then again,"_ she thought to herself as Luke's hand found hers again on their walk from the bus stop to the main entrance of the Magic Kingdom, _"a little bit of connection is nice."_

The bussing had been in their favor with a quick pick-up from the resort so even with their changed afternoon activities, they actually were only arriving in the park about forty minutes later than originally planned. To not feel too rushed, they had decided to focus on their one FastPass ride and dinner. Everything else they did was simply bonus.

"After all most of us came to the Magic Kingdom after London," Austin had said.

Payson had to admit that Austin was right when a sense of familiarity came over her at the sight of the Main Street train station.

"There's a place that sells Mexican/Southwestern themed food that has a lot of seating over in Frontierland," Luke suggested. "We could ride the railroad over to the Frontierland stop."

"And get our first attraction in," Austin said. "I'm in."

The others nodded and they climbed the steps up to the waiting area. The line of riders was not too long so when the red Roy O. Disney locomotive pulled in, they were able to find seats.

"Roy Disney?" Nicky asked, the train lurching out of the station.

"Walt's brother," Luke said. "He was a huge force behind Disney World getting completed."

"So they named a railroad car after him?"

"Each locomotive is named after someone different in the Disney story. There's this one after his brother, one after Walt Disney, one after his wife Lillian, and then one named for the man in charge of the railroad project but I don't remember his name."

"Your Disney trivia knowledge does run out!" Austin crowed and the group laughed. The train rumbled along the tracks at a decent pace although not one that would get them to their destination any faster than if they walked most likely. Payson enjoyed the simple ride that took them over two access roads and a bridge. Beyond these points and the Florida greenery, there wasn't much to see until the train entered a tunnel. Joyous music with a banjo twang prominent filled the air, and the train riders got a glimpse of the final scene of Splash Mountain. Back out of the tunnel, the train eased to a stop at a rustic-looking station.

It was a short walk through the red and earthen tones of Frontierland to Pecos Bill's, an eatery inspired by the architecture of the Southwest. As Luke had figured, the tables inside were not yet full, and soon the group was enjoying dinner and a conversation that replayed scenes from the men's mini-golf adventure. Several times Payson's hand shot up in front of her face when a funny story threatened to have her laughing her drink across the table. She noticed that Jake seemed to be relaxing a bit more and that Kelly was showing more affection than usual to Nicky, a gentle gratefulness in her eyes. Payson also picked up Austin watching Kaylie more closely although he didn't seem to be worried about her, just a little nervous in general.

The end of dinner though brought an end to Payson's speculations as the group cut through a passageway that led into Adventureland. Here they lucked out and walked right into the Tiki Birds show.

"Well, that was different," Kelly remarked on their way out.

Payson could not stop the laugh and grinned unrepentantly at Kelly's glare. "You may have softened up some since our competitive years, but I'm not surprised that some of the more unique Disney attractions are not your favorites."

"Dozens of singing birds," Kelly grumbled. "It felt like I was in a Disney-fied version of an Alfred Hitchcock movie."

"Don't forget the Tiki gods and flowers," Nicky made sure to point out and then quickly sidestepped his girlfriend's swinging fist. It was only in jest, but Kelly would probably still leave a small sting.

"Just because I'm having fun at Disney doesn't mean I can't still be a little cynical," she retorted, the edge of words softening by the smile hovering on her lips. The wait for the Jungle Cruise was being advertised as over a half hour so they opted to take a tour of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse instead.

"One of my favorites when I was a kid," Luke said as they climbed a stairwell tucked against the wide tree trunk. "I thought living in a tree would be the coolest thing ever."

"Bet your mom loved that idea."

"She was the one that pointed out my beloved Nintendo games wouldn't run in a tree illuminated by lanterns instead of electricity."

After the treehouse exploration, they discovered that the Flying Carpets had an unusually short wait. Luke recommended that if they were at all interested in this sort-of-clone-of-Dumbo ride, this was the time to take advantage.

Payson enjoyed the wind whirring through her hair as they had spun around, their carpet rising up and down, tilting forwards and backwards thanks to their own set of controls. She would not have minded a second trip flying above the streets of Adventureland. Kelly on the other hand had a different opinion of the ride.

"Why didn't you warn us that the camel spits?" she squealed at Luke when the group reconvened outside the ride.

Luke shrugged. "Thought you might have noticed while we stood in line?"

Kelly looked like she might aim one of her annoyed punches at Luke, but Nicky slipped his hand in his. She gave him a speculative glance but dropped her complaint. Using the passageway between Frontierland and Adventureland, they traveled through Liberty Square and entered Fantasyland. Luke led the way to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride where they had their only FastPasses of the evening. He explained that the ride was part of the newest section of the park, the expansion to Fantasyland only having opened a few years ago. Thanks to their FastPasses, they zipped ahead to the loading platform where they raced off on a winding, speeding trip through the mines of the seven dwarfs from Snow White. Payson alternated between little shrieks and laughter from the fun feeling of the sudden moves of the train.

"I think you liked that one," Luke commented as their train car returned to the loading platform.

"I love a huge roller coaster, but Disney does a great job with these milder ones," she admitted.

"I hope you can handle what Disney has in store on the next ride," Luke said, his expression a smirk.

"I don't remember any major roller coasters in the Magic Kingdom," Payson said.

"You'll see."

Payson tilted her head at Luke and tried to decipher the mischievous expression on his face. However, just then her phone buzzed, alerting her to an incoming text message. She checked the screen.

Luke noticed the immediate tension in her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"It's Emily."


	38. No More Traumatic Experiences

"We can take the monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center and from there hop another one to EPCOT," Luke offered. "We can get there in a half hour, less if the connections are in our favor. Or we could try snagging a taxi. I can-"

"It's ok," Payson interrupted. "She texted to say that they talked and things are good."

"Good? That's her only detail?" Kelly's face reflected her disgruntled opinion.

Payson held her phone out towards the brunette. Kelly scanned the screen, but her glare only deepened.

"You know your girlfriends aren't required to give transcripts of their conversations with their guys?" Luke dared to ask.

Kelly shifted her glare from the unhelpful phone screen to Luke, a raised eyebrow adding to the ire. "Then why has Payson been forwarding all of your discussions?"

"She has not!" Luke sputtered as Nicky coughed back a laugh. Payson knew her own face probably looked a bit bipolar as she tried to maintain neutral, not wanting to appear to support either of them but wanting to giggle at the exchange.

Kelly held her imperious gaze for another few seconds before shrugging, her wicked smirk appearing. "The look on your face was priceless, Luke. Of course, Payson hasn't been sending me anything about you. I ignore most of her texts anyway."

"Thought so," Payson muttered.

"Although," Kelly continued, her eyes flicking to the blonde before returning to Luke, "if she mentioned a man in them, I probably would pay more attention."

"Nice try, Kelly," Payson replied. "I'm not going to feed your gossip addiction.

Kelly sighed dramatically but then perked up as Payson's phone buzzed. "What's Kmetko have to say?"

Payson snorted as she checked her phone. "It's a picture of Becca's dog and his latest chew toy demolition."

Kelly glowered. "I would have expected that behavior from Lauren."

"Lauren eats dog toys?" Luke sounded completely confused.

"Of course not!" Kelly snapped. "The lack of gratitude for our help in her love life from Emily. If we had helped Lauren which I wouldn't—I personally think Jake might want to move to a different country from her—I wouldn't have been surprised at all if she ignored our contribution. Emily though?"

"Maybe she's a little busy with Damon right now?" Luke suggested despite Nicky giving him the shut-your-mouth gesture from just out of Kelly's line of vision.

The woman leveled another glare at Luke. "I don't expect a full play-by-play on what's going on."

 _"Yet,"_ Payson thought to herself, knowing that a complete explanation would be demanded later, an explanation that she would be sure to encourage if Kelly did not prove persuasive enough to Emily.

"However," Kelly said. "A sentence or two would be far more acceptable that just good."

"Hey, I thought we were going over to Frontierland?" Kaylie broke into the conversation. The four of them had lagged behind the others, their pace slowing to a crawl.

"Sorry," Payson apologized. "We got distracted by a text from Em."

"Everything ok?" Kaylie's dark eyes telegraphed genuine worry.

"If you consider Emily holding back pertinent information about how things with Damon are going ok, then yes everything is ok," Kelly grumbled.

"You know that Emily doesn't have to tell us anything until she's ready-" Kaylie had started but at Nicky's frantic gesturing behind, she paused, threw out a winning smile, and changed tactics to "for bed back at the hotel tonight and we can totally grill with nowhere for her to go to escape since she'll be in her pajamas."

"Huh," Kelly said, eyeing Kaylie closely. "I thought you were supposed to be the nice one."

"I thought that was me!" Payson protested.

"You were the polite robot. Kaylie was the all-American next-door sweetheart," Kelly replied. "I like the plan, Cruz."

And with that Kelly turned to Luke and with a little wave of her hand, said, "Lead on."

Luke looked a little surprised at the sudden shift in conversation but simply slipped his hand over Payson's and started walking towards the exit from Fantasyland into Liberty Square to take them to Frontierland.

However, the group had not made it very far before Kelly was calling for them to stop.

"Short line!" she cried triumphantly and pointed to her right.

"You really want to go on that ride?" Austin asked, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Yes!"

"Ok, now you're the one not fitting in the right role," Austin continued. "You do know what ride this is right?"

Kelly just glared.

"You just don't seem like the type to be interested in a bunch of singing dolls," Austin said slowly while at the same time taking a subtle step away from Kelly.

She huffed and turned to Luke, "I thought It's a Small World was a Disney classic. Like this is the one ride that everyone knows about! Shouldn't that make it a priority?"

"Not necessarily," Luke managed. Surprised at the reticence in his voice, Payson glanced over. Luke's face showed a wary mix of dislike and trepidation.

"You have something against It's a Small World," she realized.

Luke grimaced. "We got stuck on it for twenty minutes one time."

"What's so bad about that?" Kelly asked. "It's indoors so it's not like you were baking in the sun and I know it's not a roller coaster so you weren't hanging upside down and having all the blood rush to head and risk passing out."

"Passing out might have been more merciful," Luke grumbled. "You do realize that the song "It's a Small World" plays the entire time you are on the ride?"

"It's a cute tune."

"Until it gets so stuck in your head that it doesn't leave for three days!"

Payson placed her other hand on Luke's arm. "Kelly's right about the line being really short. Our FastPasses aren't even active yet. We wouldn't take that long if you want to just wait out here for us."

Luke shook his head, "I can handle it."

"Sure you can find the courage?" Austin teased his cousin as Kelly led the group towards the entrance ramp, a little out-of-character skip in her step.

"Definitely," Luke replied and Payson picked up on a hint of challenge in his voice. "Maybe it will inspire you."

Austin did not reply, and Payson wondered if anyone else in the group had noticed the exchange between the cousins. Kaylie and Jordan were talking about something, and Jake was in a conversation with Nicky and Kelly. The tiny brunette caught Payson's eye just long enough to give a self-satisfied smirk, and Payson felt another set of pieces begin to fall into place.

"I think getting stuck on It's a Small World wouldn't have been as traumatic if we had gotten stopped somewhere different on the ride. We were in sight of the unloading area," Luke muttered.

"Starting to worry me if you're going to make it through or if I'm going to watch you dive into the canal and try to swim for it at the halfway point," Payson replied, trying to keep a serious face even as her eyes danced.

"I won't need to stage an escape," Luke said. "I'll just squeeze your hand extra hard when I get afraid."

Payson looked at him and saw a mischievous glint replacing his earlier melancholy look. "You and Kelly."

"Kelly's holding your hand too?"

"No," she laughed. "You both have ulterior motives to go on this ride."

"Hmm," Luke replied, and then unexpectedly bent close for a brief brush of his lips against hers. "Not the same one."

"No, no, not the same, not the same one at all," Payson stumbled over her reply, caught very off-guard.

"So I think I've made my reason clear," Luke continued, his voice low. "What's hers?"

"She knew that this ride can be polarizing and wanted to torture us all a little."

"I thought she liked us."

"She does," Payson said. "It's just how Kelly works."

"I know she didn't actually tell you this, so how did you figure it out?"

Payson smiled slightly. "She smirked. It was her tell back in our gym days when she was playing mind games with her competitors."

"Always observant," Luke said.

"Good thing to be in the medical field right?"

"Exactly."

By then they had reached the loading platform. Kelly, Nicky and Jake were motioned to the front row of their boat, and the other four filed into the second row. As they waited for the boat to start its journey, Kelly twisted around to snap a candid of the four of them with her phone.

"You couldn't have warned us?" Kaylie asked.

Kelly gave her the dazzling smile that she had used when playing the perfect little gymnast for the publicity rounds. "Candids make the best shots though."

Kaylie rolled her eyes at Kelly and then squeaked, ducking her head into Austin's shoulder as Kelly nearly got a picture of the unattractive expression. Payson overheard the other woman chuckle as she turned back around.

"She's dangerous," Kaylie moaned, their boat floating past restaurant windows on its way to a tunnel.

"Good thing she's our friend," Payson said and Kaylie grinned back.

Despite Luke and Austin's hesitations about the ride, there were many smiles over the next fourteen minutes as they experienced the "happiest cruise that ever sailed around the world."

So many people represented. Europe had Buckingham Palace guards, Scandinavian dancers, French can-can dancers with their frilly skirts, and a Spanish Don Quixote setting off on his legendary adventure. Ducks paraded by Dutch windmills while Alpine goats watched yodelers. Italian gondolier posts ushered them towards another tunnel.

Asia. An Israeli wedding under a blue canopy. A Grecian shepherd playing his panpipes. Kites, fans, and lotus flowers. Pandas and water buffalo. Japanese dolls in kimonos stood at the entrance of another tunnel.

Now they drifted through the beauty of Africa. A hippopotamus on the right vied with the Pyramids of Egypt and a winking Cleopatra on the left. Huge waterlilies and leafy greenery provided the scenery as colorful hyenas and giraffes frolicked. Payson noticed several monkeys hanging high on vines, and then they were on to the next part of the world.

The Americas. Joyful penguins from the cold southern tips of Chile. Bright pottery and festive dancers from Central America. A whirling warm sun above Mexico. Faux rain showers in the tropical Brazilian rainforest.

From here the Seven Seaways led them into the Pacific region of the world. Hula dancers greeted them on the left although Luke's attention was more drawn to the animals beyond them.

"Does those platypuses look a little aggressive to you?" he asked Payson, his fingers gripping her hand tighter.

She had to agree that the way they were swinging their egg-holding paws made her think they were eyeing how hard of a lob would be needed to smack the riders with the oval eggs. "Yeah, they kind of do. Aren't they called platypi when they're plural though?"

"Random fun fact," Luke said, "is that the scientific term is platypuses although the Greek term would be platypodes."

Payson stared at him, her attention completely distracted from the sun with its Aboriginally-influenced design. "How do you know that?"

"Fifth grade science project. I was really excited to get to research the platypus."

"Right."

They flowed past a surfer and a koala and then entered the final room of It's a Small World, the colors muting into a white and pastel palette as the dolls from across the planet intermingled to sing the well-known refrain of harmony. The appearance of amusement park rides only added to the festive atmosphere that followed them into the exit tunnel. Colorful signs saying good-bye in multiple languages filled the space; Payson recognized Spanish, Italian, and Hawaiian and made a guess at a few others before they re-entered the loading and unloading area.

"Look at that," she murmured to Luke as their boat bumped to a final stop.

"At what?"

"No more traumatic experiences here. We didn't get stuck!"


	39. Honesty and Clarity

AN: So this chapter is a little shorter than the previous ones and had a lot longer wait. Spring is always super busy with work, and this year I have been occupied with releasing my own original work through self-publishing and learning how that whole process works. I hope you enjoy this chapter and if you like Christian Fiction, feel free to peek at the Look Inside of Through Hammers and Verse: Revealing Love on Amazon!

They each sat on a pool chair, close to where Payson had lounged with the girls that afternoon. While the air had cooled since that sunny time, the atmosphere sill simmered with tension. However, this tension was more of anticipation than nervous uncertainty. Without a doubt Payson knew there were going to be some awkward questions and some difficult ones but unlike Lauren's calculated inquiries, Luke wasn't looking for a past misstep to hold over her head. His questions would be coming from a genuine desire for the honesty and clarity to move their relationship forward.

As if his thoughts were brushing against hers, Luke spoke up. "Kind of surprised that Lauren's not back yet."

Payson nodded, her mind flashing to the solemn, resigned look in Jake's eyes when the group had returned to their still-dark rooms. It had taken them awhile to escape the Magic Kingdom after the evening fireworks so Lauren's continued absence had been rather unexpected.

"I thought Em would be back by now too," Payson said.

Luke smirked, "I didn't."

"You didn't? Why not? It's after midnight!"

"Payson, Emily just reunited with the man that from what you girls have said is the love of her life. I wouldn't be surprised if she's not back until tomorrow."

"Oh," Payson cheeks grew red as she realized what Luke had already put together.

"But we aren't here to talk about Emily or Lauren," Luke said.

Payson shook her head. Biting her lip, she looked steadily into Luke's eyes. "I'm pretty sure you have some questions."

"I do," he said slowly, his gaze dropping. They were silent again, but then Luke drew in a deep breath and looked back up at Payson. "I have questions, but I also have a confession."

"A confession." Payson repeated his words, her tone not quite a question.

"Yeah," Luke exhaled. "When Lauren said you had dated Sasha, I was surprised but also pretty upset."

Payson's eyebrows crinkled. "You know I could tell you were upset? That's not something you need to confess."

"It's the why I was upset that I need to tell you," Luke explained.

Payson opened her mouth, and then seeing the determined set of Luke's expression, closed her mouth. It was time to listen.

"So Lauren gave away this secret you had," Luke said. "And there was an immediate punched-in-the-gut feeling."

Payson bit her lip again, this time to keep from interrupting. She wanted to apologize for him hurting but knew he needed to just talk.

Luke continued, "When it first happened, I wanted to blame the hurt on the fact that you hadn't told me about him. I mean, I know we had talked about other relationships, but I could tell that there was a connection between you and Sasha. I thought it was just that really tight one between a coach and athlete, but-"

"That's all it really was," Payson interrupted. Luke reached forward and grasped her hand.

"It doesn't matter if there was more or not as long as nothing happened while he was coaching you."

"Other than a kiss from a socially-awkward teenager on an inappropriate crush," Payson muttered, lowering her eyes to their joined hands.

Luke squeezed her hand. "What teenager doesn't have a crush on a teacher at some point?"

Payson looked back up at him and returned his smile. "Bet you didn't kiss your crush."

"Miss Hanson would have pepper sprayed me before I could finish puckering up," Luke grinned.

"It only happened with Sasha because he was completely caught off-guard."

"Uh huh."

"I still should have told you about when we actually did date."

Luke shook his head. "We never had a conversation where we said we needed to bring up all our past relationships. You never owed me that information."

"But it upset you that I didn't tell you."

"No," Luke said. "I wanted to use that as the excuse for why I was upset, but when I allowed myself to be honest with myself, it wasn't the fact that I hadn't known."

"Then what was it?"

Luke paused before replying. "It was the fact that it was Sasha."

"Because he was my coach?"

"No, because he was Sasha Belov, the gold medalist from Sydney. The man who had achieved what I had completely failed at."

Luke's gymnastics background was familiar to Payson, but every time they had talked, he had seemed far more positive about where he had ended up in life than how he was sounding now.

"You were jealous of Sasha's Olympic success?"

"Yeah," Luke admitted with a grimace.

"But you're happy with where you are in life."

Luke gave her a wry grin. "Most of the time, yeah. I don't envy the fame and fan followers that you have. It's nice knowing that I can go on vacation not have to be careful about keeping a low profile. I thought we were going to need an intervention from security for a few minutes there tonight."

Payson winced, the incident from that evening coming back into the forefront of her mind. They had been exiting Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, still reveling in the high of an enjoyable roller coaster, the dark of evening adding to the thrills of the runaway train ride.

 _"Hey, that's Payson Keeler!"_

 _"And Kaylie Cruz!"_

 _"Jordan too!" A chorus of little girl voices had screamed and suddenly a swarm of preteens were surrounding them. The rest of the group found themselves quickly separated from the young women. Payson immediately snapped into publicity mode, her smile steady and genuine despite the unexpected attention. In the back of her mind, she knew it should not have been a surprise, but the lack of recognition during the trip had lulled her into complacency. She signed park guides with the offered pens, posed for selfies, and gave hugs to excited girls. It was only when one parent approached with THAT look that Payson felt her stomach tighten._

 _"Such an honor to meet you!" The man smiled, the friendly expression almost hiding the ulterior motive Payson knew to spot in his eyes. "An Olympic champion!"_

 _"We are very proud of having been able to represent the United States so successfully," Payson replied._

 _"Indeed what an experience!" he said, still clasping her hand from the handshake. Payson braced herself inardly as he_ _leaned in closer. "You should know that my Autumn is a very talented gymnast, a lot like you."_

" _Well, I wish her the best in her pursuit of her goals," Payson smiled widely and tugged her hand out the man's embrace. He took another step forward, completely closing any space between them._

" _Come now," he murmured. "You know gold medals aren't won with wishes. Autumn needs the right connections."_

 _"More a commitment to lots of hard work," Payson replied, sliding back a foot or two._

 _The man was undeterred, pulling his phone out. "What's your number? I'll just give you a quick call to add you to my contacts-"_

" _I'm sorry but I don't give my number out to people I don't know," Payson said, keeping her voice calm even though inside she was growling at the assuming manner._

 _The man frowned, his smile immediately disappearing. "You're supposed to be supportive of the_ _next generation of gymnasts."_

 _"And she is doing a fantastic job of that," Jordan said, her arms suddenly coming around Payson's shoulders. "I know we were all over your TV screens during the Olympics four years ago but really you don't know us. Asking for a phone number is too forward."_

 _Although Jordan had been the one speaking, the man glared at Payson before drifting behind the crowd of girls._

 _"Creeper," Jordan muttered before asking, "You ok?"_

 _"Yeah," Payson sighed. "I don't mind the autographs and selfies. It's the assumption that we somehow have the power to change the entire course of their child's career."_

" _And that we owe our entire personal lives to future gymnasts," Jordan murmured and then, "I swear, if he asks Kaylie for her number too."_

 _However, even as the man had neared the former national champion, Austin slid between them. His expression showed that he had noticed some of the earlier exchange, and he was not going to allow Kaylie to be put in the same situation. A dark glare towards the pushy father was all that was needed to get the man moving along and for their group to return to anonymity._

"Austin would've made a good bouncer if the Olympics hadn't worked out and he had needed to pay his way through college," Payson said.

"No question," Luke agreed with her assessment of his cousin's skills.

"So you are upset with me dating Sasha because he represents that Olympic success you never had." Payson turned the conversation back to the two of them.

Luke ran a hand through his hair. "My gut reaction was that Sasha set a pretty high bar for the guys you date."

"Luke-"

"My gut reaction was wrong," he interrupted. "I knew I was upset, but I didn't want to take my feelings out on you. Separate boy and girl groups this afternoon was a good idea for a lot of us. It gave me time to recognize that yes, I still feel insecure sometimes when I'm around all you Olympians

"Luke." Payson stopped after the one word, reassuring reminders of how successful he was in his job now getting caught in her throat. Instead she reached out her other hand to hold firmly onto him, knowing that the solid show of support would mean more than platitudes.

Luke rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand before speaking again. "Once in awhile I get a little unsure and wonder about the what-ifs and why-nots from my own career. However, I also know that those are part of my life separate from you, and I don't begrudge any of you the success you've had. Heck, I probably know better than most people how much time and effort, blood and tears go into what you achieved. Payson, I am amazed at how you have succeeded."

Luke paused, and she said softly, "Thank you."

He let go of Payson's hands and then cupped her face, his hands a gentle frame around her cheeks and chin. His eyes connected with hers. "I want to be part of your journey. I want to be there alongside you as you continue to succeed. I know it won't always be easy, but I want this."

Payson smiled, lifting her hands up to clasp the outside of Luke's. "I'd like that a lot."

"Good." Luke leaned in for a kiss, and the last bit of tension dropped away as Payson relaxed into his touch.


End file.
